WEBVTT
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Welcome to Examining Scripture. We seek to encourage
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believers in Jesus Christ to drink from the Word
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of Life. As God's revelation to mankind, we want
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to demystify the Bible and help you find what
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God has to say about the circumstances you're
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facing. We're not pastors or theologians. We're
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sinners just like you who, by the grace of God,
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have come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. If
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we can thirst for Scripture, so can you. Hi,
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I'm your host, Bob Redd. along with co -host
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Anne Burt. Thank you for joining us in another
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episode of Examining Scripture. Morning, Anne.
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Good morning, Bob. We are moving into the fall
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here, and actually this podcast is our halfway
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point of our fourth season. I want to spend this
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podcast talking about something highly personal
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to me, and it's personal in the sense that It's
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a way in which I've been living for the last
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three, four, five years. If I could sum it up
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this way, it's recognizing and living in the
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providential will of God. And in so doing, what
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I've found is how easy it is compared to my wishes,
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my desires, trying to force my way on the world,
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the things that I desire to the things I want.
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and turning it over to God. And there's two elements
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in that, I find. So the one element that everybody
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will easily recognize is specific prayer requests.
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So for example, our big prayer requests, we had
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been going down to Florida in the winter, we
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spend our summers here in Buffalo, and there
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really were two prayer requests around that.
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One is looking for Diane to find community in
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Florida. And so one of my prayers, selfish as
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it has been, would be Lord, because we're going
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back and forth from Buffalo and Florida, Diane
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wants to relocate to a warmer climate. Certainly
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Buffalo isn't that in the winter. Perhaps she
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can find community in Florida. Florida is a warm
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environment. warm climate, sunny, and all those
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things that's important to her. Hopefully she
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can find community in such a way that she wants
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to relocate and live there so we can live out
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the next season of our life. So that was a selfish
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prayer. Yet it's a prayer nonetheless that I
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was having. And with that other prayer comes,
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well, if we're going to have Dianne find community,
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perhaps it's important that we find the place
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for that next season where we can live and relocate
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permanently from Buffalo to Florida. And so these
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were two very specific prayer requests. And of
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course, as I'm prone to do, I request or I pray
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often about that. That's the first part of what
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I want us to discuss. The second part of what
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I want to discuss is what happens in the interim
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when I'm not getting the answer. You mean while
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you're waiting to find the perfect house in Florida?
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Yes, and while I'm waiting for the Lord to bring
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people into Diane's life that builds a community
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for her, right? So those are sort of the two
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things. So then the second part, what I hope
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we'll cover in this podcast, how do we, Anne
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and Bob, and hopefully then be for our listeners,
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approach our everyday life while we're waiting
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for answers to these big questions or these big
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requests. So the first question I have for you,
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Anne, is, is there any limit to the big questions
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in your life at any one time? My example was,
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well, I want Diane to find community. And if
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she finds community, I am asking for the Lord
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to lead us to the right place. In this case,
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we're talking about a physical home, right? sort
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of one of my requests bleeds into the other.
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There probably were other, many other requests
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that I had on my mind in terms of petitions to
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God, but those were big ones. You mean, is there
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a limit to the number of big prayers we're allowed
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to have at one time? Yeah, and yeah. Well, I
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would have to say no. In my opinion, God can
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handle big prayers from all of us, all the time,
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He's just amazing and sovereign and He hears
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every one of our prayers and He's working on
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all the solutions behind the scenes. I mean,
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I believe God's always working something for
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His glory, for our good, but it is hard when
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we don't see answers, when we don't see anything
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changing, but I think we need to still continue
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to bring those requests to the Lord. I think
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one of the interesting things about prayer is
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that when you pray for something for a long time,
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it can have a positive effect on you, the way
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you pray, the thought process that you go through,
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and the emotions that you feel when you're praying.
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Sometimes we can, over long periods of time,
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become more peaceful because we know we're bringing
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this request to the Lord and even though He's
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not answering right away, we can trust Him to
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still work it out in His timing, because His
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timing's not always our timing. Yeah, amen to
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that. So I can think of three kind of examples,
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and I think we can point to them in Scripture
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to help clarify it for our listener. The first
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two I can think of is answered prayer. One in
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the positive, meaning God honors our requests
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and gives us the outcome of that request. And
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then the other is we get an answer and it's not
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the request we're looking for. And then the third
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one is this idea of not having an answer or maybe
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not having an answer yet, meaning either God
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hasn't yet responded to our requests and or that
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God really is saying no. and His silence is no,
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and that's always hard for us to interpret. Is
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God saying not yet or is God saying no? So let's
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look at a couple of these examples. Let's first
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look at the example of someone who has prayed
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and prayed and prayed for requests, and finally
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there becomes an answer. And I'm thinking of
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Hannah. If we turn to 1 Samuel chapter 1, verse
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20 of chapter 1, verse 3 or verse 9? Where should
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we start? Well, maybe we can summarize a little
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bit at the beginning. A woman named Hannah and
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her husband, Elkanah, although he had two wives
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and one of his wives had children, but Hannah
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had no children. Elkanah's other wife would always
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sort of needle Hannah and make her feel bad because
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she didn't have any children, but Elkanah loved
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her and they would go up every year to the temple
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to make sacrifices and one year when Hannah went
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she was praying very very earnestly before the
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Lord. So maybe we can pick that up in verse 9?
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Sure, would you like me to read it? Please. Once
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when they had finished eating and drinking in
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Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was
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sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the Lord's
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temple. In bitterness of soul, Hannah wept much
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and prayed to the Lord. and she made a vow saying,
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Oh Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon
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your servant's misery and remember me and not
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forget your servant, but give her a son, then
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I will give him to the Lord for all the days
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of his life and no razor will ever be used on
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his head. As she kept on praying to the Lord,
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Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying in
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her heart and her lips were moving, but her voice
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was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk and
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said to her, How long will you keep on getting
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drunk? Get rid of your wine. Not so, my Lord,"
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Hannah replied. I am a woman who is deeply troubled.
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I have not been drinking wine or beer. I was
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pouring out my soul to the Lord. Do not take
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your servant for a wicked woman. I have been
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praying here out of my great anguish and grief.
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Eli answered, Go in peace and may the God of
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Israel grant you what you have asked of him.
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What a great story, huh? It is a good story.
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It's a happy ending. It is a happy ending. A
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difficult story for Hannah though. She endured
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a lot. Yeah the implication of the scripture
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there is that it was year after year she's being
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needled by Elkanah's other wife who's been blessed
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with children. In that time of in Palestine and
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it was very much a blessing for women to have
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children. And when women couldn't have children,
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their barrenness was considered a rebuke of the
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Lord, wasn't it? Yes, I believe so. Yeah. And
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so finally she gets an answer. And I love how
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it says after Eli tells her to go, her Go in
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peace, the Lord has heard her. And it says, so
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the woman went her way and ate and her face was
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no longer sad. What I love about that is that
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peace that came over her while she wasn't yet
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pregnant with Samuel, she trusted in Eli. She
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trusted in the message of the Lord through another.
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And she received, it was sort of like a little
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blessing, right? May the Lord grant you your
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request. We do know that earlier in 1 Samuel
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it talks about how year after year they went
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before the temple and she poured out her heart
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and she was saddened because she had this great
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request and it wasn't honored or at least it
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hadn't been answered by God until finally this
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point. Samuel's a very big and very important
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person in Scripture, right? He is the first of
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the true prophets. And so it's a tremendous story
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of one continually in prayer, one continually
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petitioning the Lord for an outcome that finally
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gets answered. Yes. Hannah got her yes, and she
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was grateful to the Lord, and she showed her
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thankfulness. And she honored the Lord, didn't
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she? Because that's exactly what she did. She
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turned Samuel over to the Lord, and the Lord
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greatly blessed her and greatly blessed Samuel.
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And Samuel became a very important person in
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the life of Israel. He was the prophet that God
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gave the great gift of selecting the eventual
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King of Israel, David. Indeed. Well, let's look
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it doesn't always go that way, right? Well a
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good point So let's let's look at an example
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where doesn't go quite that way and I'm thinking
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of Paul 2nd Corinthians 12 7 through 10 To keep
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me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly
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great revelations there was given me a thorn
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in my flesh a messenger of Satan to torment me
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three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it
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away from me But he said to me, my grace is sufficient
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for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.
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Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about
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my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest
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on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight
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in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions,
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in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am
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strong. So what was going on there? Sounds like
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Paul's asking God to do something and God's saying
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no, I'm not gonna give you what you want You're
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gonna have to deal with it and know that I'm
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with you and I'm my grace is sufficient for you.
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You can deal with this Sorry, Paul. That's right.
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So the good news here in this is Here's a person
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making petitions to God and he gets an answer.
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He does The tough news is it's not the answer
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he's looking for. Unfortunately not. But, I don't
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know, when we go through hard times, do we sometimes
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develop a closer walk with the Lord? Maybe all
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the hard things aren't so bad in the end. I think
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that's right. I think that's one of the very
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important takeaways here. I think the other important
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takeaway is our desires or our wants aren't always
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what God's desire is, what his want is. If we
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think about Paul's sharing this with the Corinthians,
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kind of what was going on, I always keep this
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in mind when I think about Paul, when I read
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about his writings. And I think here's a guy
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that was under tremendous persecution, but he
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first persecuted the church. And how could a
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guy continually stay on point? continually do
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what he was commissioned to do by Christ, which
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is to preach the gospel to the Gentiles under
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such oppressive circumstances in many ways, in
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many cases. Then I think, well, wait a minute,
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Paul got to meet the risen Lord. Yes, that changes
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a person. Yeah, right? I think if I met the risen
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Lord, all this worldly stuff, good, bad or indifferent,
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can't overcome that, can't trump that. Right.
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Because Paul had met the risen Lord, the human
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nature of Paul, and we could go back and we're
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not going to to Romans chapter seven, where Paul
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talks about this conflict between his sin nature,
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his fleshly nature and his spiritual nature of
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wanting to do the will of God. That's the humanness
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in Paul. And one of the temptations Paul must
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have always faced. You know, I'm all that and
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a bag of chips. That's one of those American
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sayings, right? Where, you know what? I've met
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the risen Lord and you haven't. So I'm either
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more important to you or I'm superior to you
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or you should listen to me because you haven't
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been given the grace of meeting the Lord as I
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have. I think you're saying that Paul could have
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become conceited, like it says in here, to keep
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me from being conceited. But I don't think Paul
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thought he was all that amazing because of the
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encounter with Jesus. I think the encounter on
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the road to Damascus with Jesus was what inspired
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him and gave him the confidence that Jesus is
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absolutely the Christ, and I have no doubt about
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it anymore. And now I'm going to tell everybody,
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in that moment, he was told that God was going
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to rescue him from his own people and from the
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Gentiles so that he could go everywhere and preach
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the gospel. And so that's what he was doing.
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He was just being obedient to the call that God
00:16:42.730 --> 00:16:45.769
put on his life. And yes, it was going to be
00:16:45.769 --> 00:16:48.409
hard. But I think Paul always said, well, look
00:16:48.409 --> 00:16:50.750
at what Jesus went through. Look at what my Savior
00:16:50.750 --> 00:16:53.570
suffered for me. I can handle a little chains.
00:16:53.649 --> 00:16:56.009
I can handle a little prison. I don't mind a
00:16:56.009 --> 00:16:58.029
shipwreck since we're all going to make it through
00:16:58.029 --> 00:17:01.299
in the end. But I think It was the encounter
00:17:01.299 --> 00:17:04.259
with Christ that transformed him and gave him
00:17:04.259 --> 00:17:08.079
the desire and the eagerness and the drive and
00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:11.059
the passion to go and tell everybody about the
00:17:11.059 --> 00:17:13.460
gospel. I don't think he was going to use that
00:17:13.460 --> 00:17:16.839
as a reason to brag to others or make himself
00:17:16.839 --> 00:17:19.660
higher up than other people. Yeah, I think that's
00:17:19.660 --> 00:17:24.519
exactly right. And I'm reminded of what Peter
00:17:24.519 --> 00:17:28.200
said, where he's talking about this humility.
00:17:28.589 --> 00:17:31.869
And we're called, right, to humble ourselves.
00:17:32.069 --> 00:17:37.230
I'm reminded of James 410, which says, Humble
00:17:37.230 --> 00:17:39.990
yourself before the Lord, and He will lift you
00:17:39.990 --> 00:17:43.930
up. Some translations say He'll exalt you. In
00:17:43.930 --> 00:17:48.809
chapter 5 of 1 Peter, verse 6, it says, Therefore
00:17:48.809 --> 00:17:51.309
humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,
00:17:51.690 --> 00:17:54.730
that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting
00:17:54.730 --> 00:17:58.180
all your anxiety on Him. because He cares for
00:17:58.180 --> 00:18:01.519
you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your
00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:04.400
adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring
00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:08.319
lion seeking someone to devour. But resist Him,
00:18:08.539 --> 00:18:11.400
firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences
00:18:11.400 --> 00:18:14.859
of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren
00:18:14.859 --> 00:18:17.579
who are in the world. After you have suffered
00:18:17.579 --> 00:18:20.000
a little while, the God of all grace who called
00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:23.799
you to His eternal glory in Christ will Himself
00:18:23.799 --> 00:18:27.910
perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.
00:18:28.430 --> 00:18:32.930
And so what we see in Paul is saying, you know,
00:18:32.970 --> 00:18:35.369
I have this thorn. We're not told what the thorn
00:18:35.369 --> 00:18:38.849
is, are we Anne? No, and I don't think for our
00:18:38.849 --> 00:18:41.789
purpose today it even really matters. No, that's
00:18:41.789 --> 00:18:44.650
right. I mean, to your point, Paul was a great
00:18:44.650 --> 00:18:47.450
man. Even before he came to know the Lord, he
00:18:47.450 --> 00:18:49.630
had a lot of credentials that would make him
00:18:49.630 --> 00:18:52.150
seem... like an important person. And then, of
00:18:52.150 --> 00:18:54.150
course, he had this encounter with Jesus, and
00:18:54.150 --> 00:18:56.490
spiritually he seems to be very close to God,
00:18:56.529 --> 00:18:59.390
and he's this great apostle. And you would think
00:18:59.390 --> 00:19:02.089
that all of Paul's prayers would get answered,
00:19:02.470 --> 00:19:06.589
yes, but this one didn't. So what do we do with
00:19:06.589 --> 00:19:09.170
that? Yeah, so what do we do with that? Well,
00:19:09.369 --> 00:19:13.650
you know, I think Paul answers that in Philippians
00:19:13.650 --> 00:19:18.490
4, 10 through 13. Can we go there? Yes, Philippians
00:19:18.490 --> 00:19:22.829
4, 10. I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at
00:19:22.829 --> 00:19:25.910
last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed,
00:19:26.109 --> 00:19:28.690
you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity
00:19:28.690 --> 00:19:31.589
to show it. I'm not saying this because I am
00:19:31.589 --> 00:19:35.230
in need, for I have learned to be content whatever
00:19:35.230 --> 00:19:38.730
the circumstances. I know what it is to be in
00:19:38.730 --> 00:19:42.289
need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I
00:19:42.289 --> 00:19:45.049
have learned the secret of being content in any
00:19:45.049 --> 00:19:48.869
and every situation, whether well -fed or hungry.
00:19:49.049 --> 00:19:52.430
whether living in plenty or in want, I can do
00:19:52.430 --> 00:19:55.390
everything through him who gives me strength."
00:19:55.390 --> 00:19:58.670
Here's Paul saying, yeah, I made this specific
00:19:58.670 --> 00:20:02.329
request and the Lord said, my grace is sufficient
00:20:02.329 --> 00:20:06.549
for you. Paul's lesson in hearing the answer
00:20:06.549 --> 00:20:08.930
he doesn't want, meaning the thorn in the flesh
00:20:08.930 --> 00:20:12.309
wasn't removed, is that in his weakness he is
00:20:12.309 --> 00:20:15.509
strong and he's strong in the Lord. He writes
00:20:15.509 --> 00:20:18.450
later, What he's gleaned out of this is through
00:20:18.450 --> 00:20:21.950
hardship and through plenty, I live for the Lord.
00:20:22.569 --> 00:20:25.029
And the Lord is always with me. I have everything
00:20:25.029 --> 00:20:31.160
that I need. Yeah. Which really blends into the
00:20:31.160 --> 00:20:35.740
third circumstance, right? Where you're asking
00:20:35.740 --> 00:20:40.079
of God a request, maybe several, and you're not
00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:43.259
hearing an answer. The beauty is Hannah got an
00:20:43.259 --> 00:20:45.579
answer and she liked it. It was an answer to
00:20:45.579 --> 00:20:48.670
her prayer. Paul was making a request, probably
00:20:48.670 --> 00:20:51.109
doesn't like it at first, but he gets an answer.
00:20:51.890 --> 00:20:54.970
And one of the beauties of getting an answer
00:20:54.970 --> 00:20:58.849
is it's final, right? It's, what do you do with
00:20:58.849 --> 00:21:01.329
it? Well, I've got my answer, so now I have to
00:21:01.329 --> 00:21:03.829
accept it, sometimes gladly, because it's the
00:21:03.829 --> 00:21:06.869
outcome I want, and sometimes we have to take
00:21:06.869 --> 00:21:11.549
the answer for what it is and see God's purpose
00:21:11.549 --> 00:21:14.759
in that. So what do we do in the circumstance
00:21:14.759 --> 00:21:18.680
where we're making these petitions and we haven't
00:21:18.680 --> 00:21:22.339
yet had an answer from God? And that answer from
00:21:22.339 --> 00:21:26.240
God probably has two outcomes, right? Well, sure.
00:21:26.420 --> 00:21:28.799
I mean, it's wait, wait, wait, and you get a
00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:32.019
yes or wait, wait, wait, and you get a no. But
00:21:32.019 --> 00:21:34.599
at some point, do you question the I'm waiting,
00:21:34.740 --> 00:21:36.579
I'm waiting, I'm waiting? Is there ever going
00:21:36.579 --> 00:21:40.319
to be a yes or is this just not going to happen?
00:21:41.309 --> 00:21:44.890
And what do we do with that? I think it's difficult
00:21:44.890 --> 00:21:48.150
and I think it depends on what you're asking
00:21:48.150 --> 00:21:50.750
for. You know, we talked a little bit about if
00:21:50.750 --> 00:21:53.730
you're unemployed and you really need a job and,
00:21:53.769 --> 00:21:57.269
you know, you send out two resumes and then wait
00:21:57.269 --> 00:22:00.049
for somebody to call you and say, oh, well, you
00:22:00.049 --> 00:22:02.049
know, if that doesn't work out, I'm sure somebody
00:22:02.049 --> 00:22:05.049
will want to offer me a job. Right. Or do you
00:22:05.049 --> 00:22:08.329
do you keep applying and keep sending out resumes
00:22:08.329 --> 00:22:12.690
and keep keep looking and then ask God to help
00:22:12.690 --> 00:22:14.789
you. Well, where should I look? What company
00:22:14.789 --> 00:22:17.089
do you have for me? And you know, what job is
00:22:17.089 --> 00:22:19.470
there that you see is going to fit good with
00:22:19.470 --> 00:22:21.849
my life? And you know, you can't just sit on
00:22:21.849 --> 00:22:23.849
a couch and eat chips and expect someone to call
00:22:23.849 --> 00:22:27.430
and offer you your dream job. Yeah, I think what
00:22:27.430 --> 00:22:30.650
you're saying is, you know, we have to still
00:22:30.650 --> 00:22:33.730
live life, right? Yeah, you have to take reasonable
00:22:33.730 --> 00:22:36.369
steps to work towards your goals and what your
00:22:36.369 --> 00:22:38.630
hopes and dreams are. You know, if you, I don't
00:22:38.630 --> 00:22:41.589
know, maybe just trite example, but if you're
00:22:41.589 --> 00:22:44.509
trying to lose weight, you should try to, you
00:22:44.509 --> 00:22:46.750
know, if you don't change anything, that's probably
00:22:46.750 --> 00:22:49.849
not going to happen. But if you, you know, exercise
00:22:49.849 --> 00:22:52.190
a little bit more, eat a little bit healthier,
00:22:52.430 --> 00:22:54.670
maybe then you're working towards your goals.
00:22:54.750 --> 00:22:56.950
And even though it's hard, you know, this is
00:22:56.950 --> 00:22:58.769
when you pray, Lord, give me self -control, give
00:22:58.769 --> 00:23:01.890
me some discipline, give me opportunities to
00:23:01.890 --> 00:23:05.670
do better. And as he provides those, you can
00:23:05.670 --> 00:23:09.190
work towards your goals. That's right. The point
00:23:09.190 --> 00:23:13.630
is that you have to live life. In the case of
00:23:13.630 --> 00:23:16.569
a request to lose weight, you have to do something
00:23:16.569 --> 00:23:18.930
about it. You have to change your diet. You have
00:23:18.930 --> 00:23:21.930
to exercise. I'm reminded of the silly, stupid
00:23:21.930 --> 00:23:25.190
joke that says this person was praying, Lord,
00:23:25.430 --> 00:23:27.730
please let me win the lottery. And he prayed
00:23:27.730 --> 00:23:30.569
day after day after day. And finally, Lord answers
00:23:30.569 --> 00:23:32.529
him and said, well, you know, will you at least
00:23:32.529 --> 00:23:37.779
buy a ticket? Sure. And, you know, that's the
00:23:37.779 --> 00:23:41.039
point. I mean, if we sit there and pray for something
00:23:41.039 --> 00:23:44.440
and we don't just act out and live our life,
00:23:44.539 --> 00:23:48.500
and here I'm talking about living it in a Christian
00:23:48.500 --> 00:23:51.799
way, in Christ -likeness, being in Scripture,
00:23:52.140 --> 00:23:55.819
praying, being active, right? Your example is
00:23:55.819 --> 00:23:59.640
a perfect example of, okay, someone's looking
00:23:59.640 --> 00:24:02.000
for a job. Well, I think there's two elements
00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:05.480
to that, that one you said quite nicely. write
00:24:05.480 --> 00:24:09.359
your resume, send it out, apply to job openings.
00:24:09.660 --> 00:24:12.700
The other part of it, and many times it's actually
00:24:12.700 --> 00:24:16.000
the most important part, is to network, to get
00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:19.539
out and to meet people, to talk to people, to
00:24:19.539 --> 00:24:22.119
show them who you are. And many times people
00:24:22.119 --> 00:24:25.940
will find their interactions with other people
00:24:25.940 --> 00:24:30.140
in public situations, in networking situations
00:24:30.140 --> 00:24:33.519
is a a wonderful way where someone says, you
00:24:33.519 --> 00:24:36.180
know, you're a pretty good person. I like your
00:24:36.180 --> 00:24:39.240
demeanor. It sounds like you have the right skill
00:24:39.240 --> 00:24:43.480
set. I know so and so that's looking for someone
00:24:43.480 --> 00:24:48.279
with your particular skills. And lo and behold,
00:24:48.740 --> 00:24:51.559
they connect you up. You go meet with that person.
00:24:51.579 --> 00:24:53.960
And before you know it, you have a job and that
00:24:53.960 --> 00:24:58.819
job never hit the job posting websites or any
00:24:58.819 --> 00:25:01.759
of that. I think that's a marvelous example where,
00:25:01.980 --> 00:25:05.140
yeah, there's things that we need to do like
00:25:05.140 --> 00:25:08.339
updating your resume, sending it out to job posts.
00:25:08.519 --> 00:25:11.400
But the other part of it is we... If we're just
00:25:11.400 --> 00:25:13.799
living our life, if we're interacting day -to
00:25:13.799 --> 00:25:16.559
-day with people, fellowshipping in church, being
00:25:16.559 --> 00:25:20.200
out with other gatherings, that social interaction,
00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:23.640
being able to show who you are as a person, can
00:25:23.640 --> 00:25:27.220
many times lead to opportunities that would not
00:25:27.220 --> 00:25:30.259
otherwise come to us. And I think that's where
00:25:30.259 --> 00:25:33.819
I want to spend a little time here in the last
00:25:33.819 --> 00:25:37.960
part of the podcast. I call it living in God's
00:25:37.960 --> 00:25:40.480
providential will. and I've said it many times
00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:43.980
before, for me, it's every bit as miraculous
00:25:43.980 --> 00:25:47.900
to see the providential hand of God, the way
00:25:47.900 --> 00:25:51.839
He arranges the millions of contingencies of
00:25:51.839 --> 00:25:55.579
everyday life to bring about a particular outcome
00:25:55.579 --> 00:25:59.700
on my behalf or on your behalf. And to me, that's
00:25:59.700 --> 00:26:03.640
every bit as miraculous as the supernatural miracles
00:26:03.640 --> 00:26:07.539
that we see all the time in Scripture. and that
00:26:07.539 --> 00:26:11.359
we do see on occasion in the world today. It's
00:26:11.359 --> 00:26:15.059
not often, but those things certainly can happen
00:26:15.059 --> 00:26:18.460
because God can do anything and everything. Where
00:26:18.460 --> 00:26:21.940
I'm reminded of that in Scripture is probably
00:26:21.940 --> 00:26:24.700
in two areas, and we're not going to go there.
00:26:24.920 --> 00:26:28.359
One I'm thinking of is Joseph from Genesis 37
00:26:28.359 --> 00:26:32.160
through Genesis 50. We see the life of Joseph,
00:26:32.759 --> 00:26:35.960
a blessed life indeed. at work, and of course
00:26:35.960 --> 00:26:38.740
Scripture doesn't always give us all the detail.
00:26:39.680 --> 00:26:42.799
But we see a life of Joseph in the similar way
00:26:42.799 --> 00:26:47.039
we saw the life in Paul, where he's being guided
00:26:47.039 --> 00:26:50.359
by God through circumstances, and some of those
00:26:50.359 --> 00:26:53.700
are horrendous. He's being sold into slavery.
00:26:54.339 --> 00:26:59.420
He's being accused by the person whose household
00:26:59.420 --> 00:27:03.380
he's overseeing by his wife, who actually is
00:27:03.380 --> 00:27:08.140
trying to seduce him. And we see the vision that
00:27:08.140 --> 00:27:11.900
he has, or that he interprets, and it's again,
00:27:12.019 --> 00:27:14.559
he gives credit, all the credit to the Lord while
00:27:14.559 --> 00:27:17.579
he's in jail. And there are two different outcomes
00:27:17.579 --> 00:27:20.559
for two different people, a cupbearer and a baker.
00:27:20.779 --> 00:27:23.960
And we see the cupbearer being restored to his
00:27:23.960 --> 00:27:26.900
position, has this intimate relationship with
00:27:26.900 --> 00:27:29.579
Pharaoh, and he completely forgets about Joseph.
00:27:30.720 --> 00:27:35.000
And we just see this. And finally, he's reunited
00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:38.400
with his father, with his beloved brother Benjamin,
00:27:38.460 --> 00:27:42.380
and all of his other brothers. And he's actually
00:27:42.380 --> 00:27:47.259
the one who's given the charge over Pharaoh's
00:27:47.259 --> 00:27:52.890
entire country to prepare for a famine that Pharaoh
00:27:52.890 --> 00:27:56.089
himself saw in a vision, in a dream. Throughout
00:27:56.089 --> 00:28:02.890
those 23 chapters, we see this marvelous lifespan
00:28:02.890 --> 00:28:07.150
of an individual, Joseph, in this case, who is
00:28:07.150 --> 00:28:10.250
given a raw deal on several occasions, and yet
00:28:10.250 --> 00:28:13.890
maintains faith in the Lord, and he's restored,
00:28:14.150 --> 00:28:16.829
and he's restored, and he's restored. And maybe
00:28:16.829 --> 00:28:20.400
there's a pattern there for Israel itself. What
00:28:20.400 --> 00:28:24.259
do you say to a story like that to people? What
00:28:24.259 --> 00:28:27.019
is it that you say in terms of people's prayers
00:28:27.019 --> 00:28:32.160
and their requests and the impact of their circumstances
00:28:32.160 --> 00:28:36.099
when you're talking to other people? If you're
00:28:36.099 --> 00:28:38.700
thinking of Joseph, you're wanting to encourage
00:28:38.700 --> 00:28:41.799
them through his life, what do you say in those
00:28:41.799 --> 00:28:44.000
circumstances? Because there's no question Joseph
00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:46.940
was true to the Lord. He certainly was praying
00:28:46.940 --> 00:28:49.359
for, get me out of prison, or he was praying,
00:28:49.539 --> 00:28:52.180
get me out of this hole. And his answer to the
00:28:52.180 --> 00:28:54.500
prayer is probably, I'm going to die here in
00:28:54.500 --> 00:28:56.700
this hole, Lord, get me out of this hole. He
00:28:56.700 --> 00:29:00.440
gets out of the hole and he gets sold. as a slave
00:29:00.440 --> 00:29:03.519
and goes to Europe and so i mean to egypt and
00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:06.240
so what do you say to people and how do you how
00:29:06.240 --> 00:29:09.839
can you use joseph's life the story of joseph's
00:29:09.839 --> 00:29:13.380
life in genesis to encourage people who are looking
00:29:13.380 --> 00:29:15.640
for answers in either getting the answers they
00:29:15.640 --> 00:29:19.119
don't want like in the case of paul or who is
00:29:19.119 --> 00:29:22.259
getting answers in the case of joseph being put
00:29:22.259 --> 00:29:25.440
in charge of potiphar's house and in front of
00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:28.880
pharaoh's. country like Hannah, what do you say
00:29:28.880 --> 00:29:32.259
to people on just the whole panoramic view of
00:29:32.259 --> 00:29:36.200
Joseph's life? Well, Joseph is an example of
00:29:36.200 --> 00:29:39.380
a person who's who can't do a lot to move towards
00:29:39.380 --> 00:29:41.599
the outcome of his prayers. Like when we talked
00:29:41.599 --> 00:29:43.279
about, you know, things you can do to help find
00:29:43.279 --> 00:29:45.740
a job and get healthier. There really wasn't
00:29:45.740 --> 00:29:47.940
anything Joseph could do to get himself out of
00:29:47.940 --> 00:29:49.720
the hole. And there wasn't anything he could
00:29:49.720 --> 00:29:52.740
do to move closer to an answer of getting out
00:29:52.740 --> 00:29:55.440
of prison. He could pray and pray and pray, but
00:29:55.440 --> 00:29:59.289
he had to depend solely on God to do all the
00:29:59.289 --> 00:30:02.509
workings behind the answer to those prayers.
00:30:02.869 --> 00:30:05.829
I think even though the answers often surprised
00:30:05.829 --> 00:30:08.529
Joseph and he didn't always get exactly what
00:30:08.529 --> 00:30:12.509
he wanted, that God used all those events to
00:30:12.509 --> 00:30:16.269
bring glory to the Lord and for Joseph's benefit.
00:30:16.690 --> 00:30:20.170
At the end of Joseph's story and the end of Genesis,
00:30:20.490 --> 00:30:24.130
he says to his brothers who had started this
00:30:24.130 --> 00:30:28.390
whole string of terrible events that what his
00:30:28.390 --> 00:30:32.049
brothers had intended for evil God used for good.
00:30:32.609 --> 00:30:35.630
And so I think we need to remember that too.
00:30:36.089 --> 00:30:38.269
There are situations that we find ourselves in
00:30:38.269 --> 00:30:42.329
that we pray about an outcome, we have absolutely
00:30:42.329 --> 00:30:45.170
no control over it. We just have to trust that
00:30:45.170 --> 00:30:47.990
God is sovereign. It's really hard sometimes,
00:30:48.190 --> 00:30:50.309
especially when the answer is no or when we're
00:30:50.309 --> 00:30:53.440
still waiting for an outcome, to try to have
00:30:53.440 --> 00:30:57.400
a perspective of life on this earth is a gift,
00:30:57.500 --> 00:31:00.579
but it's only temporary. There is an eternity
00:31:00.579 --> 00:31:04.059
waiting for us. If we can overcome and endure
00:31:04.059 --> 00:31:07.519
to the end and put our hope in Jesus, we will
00:31:07.519 --> 00:31:10.380
spend eternity in heaven. And so all the horrible
00:31:10.380 --> 00:31:13.200
stuff that happens here on earth is, it's small
00:31:13.200 --> 00:31:15.900
in comparison to the glory and the amazing things
00:31:15.900 --> 00:31:18.779
that await us in eternity. It's hard to have
00:31:18.779 --> 00:31:21.130
that perspective every day. Just to remember
00:31:21.130 --> 00:31:23.789
that God is with us even in those hard times.
00:31:24.130 --> 00:31:27.250
He walks through those valleys with us and we're
00:31:27.250 --> 00:31:30.589
never alone and he comforts us and he strengthens
00:31:30.589 --> 00:31:33.349
us and he's always with us. He encourages us
00:31:33.349 --> 00:31:37.269
to just keep on keeping on. He does and I think
00:31:37.269 --> 00:31:39.829
when we look at ourselves we think we're in control
00:31:39.829 --> 00:31:42.410
and we're not. We're put on this earth. That's
00:31:42.410 --> 00:31:44.569
the first thing that's out of our control and
00:31:44.569 --> 00:31:47.769
we're born into a family that's not in our control.
00:31:48.009 --> 00:31:51.690
and we grow up and we become adults and we have
00:31:51.690 --> 00:31:54.690
to live life and life's hard. But I find the
00:31:54.690 --> 00:31:59.250
thing about Joseph that is so rewarding for me
00:31:59.250 --> 00:32:03.789
in my own mindset. In some of his prayers, he
00:32:03.789 --> 00:32:06.130
certainly didn't get the outcome he was looking
00:32:06.130 --> 00:32:11.049
for, but he pressed on. He was in prison. He
00:32:11.049 --> 00:32:14.869
answers this guy, he through God, he gives glory
00:32:14.869 --> 00:32:20.440
to God and God answers. this dream of the cupbearer.
00:32:20.599 --> 00:32:22.900
And the cupbearer gets restored and off he goes
00:32:22.900 --> 00:32:26.339
to Pharaoh. You know that Joseph probably was
00:32:26.339 --> 00:32:28.799
praying. First off, he's probably elated the
00:32:28.799 --> 00:32:31.539
first week. Oh, great. You know, the cupbearer
00:32:31.539 --> 00:32:33.980
is there in front of Pharaoh talking about me
00:32:33.980 --> 00:32:36.779
and all that I did for him and how I answered
00:32:36.779 --> 00:32:40.660
this dream. And a month goes by and there's no
00:32:40.660 --> 00:32:44.819
answer. And six months go by and a year goes
00:32:44.819 --> 00:32:49.819
by. And yet what you don't see in this is that
00:32:49.819 --> 00:32:54.960
while the outcome that God gave Joseph in that
00:32:54.960 --> 00:32:58.259
scenario which was he prayed that he would be
00:32:58.259 --> 00:33:01.339
able to interpret the dream of the cup bearer
00:33:01.339 --> 00:33:05.240
and God gave him the interpretation that surely
00:33:05.240 --> 00:33:08.359
that has to lead to me being freed from prison
00:33:08.359 --> 00:33:12.579
and it does in the end two years later probably
00:33:12.859 --> 00:33:15.980
Joseph was thinking of, oh, great, I can get
00:33:15.980 --> 00:33:18.960
out of prison and just go live my life. And what
00:33:18.960 --> 00:33:22.740
God effected was, no, you're in prison for two
00:33:22.740 --> 00:33:26.420
more years. And when you come out, you have a
00:33:26.420 --> 00:33:29.819
direct audience with Pharaoh and you demonstrate
00:33:29.819 --> 00:33:32.940
who you are to Pharaoh. And in fact, at the time
00:33:32.940 --> 00:33:36.200
he interprets the dream of the seven years of
00:33:36.200 --> 00:33:39.480
great abundance and then the seven years of famine.
00:33:39.849 --> 00:33:43.869
Joseph doesn't then say, and I'm your guy. No,
00:33:44.309 --> 00:33:48.230
he says, you, Pharaoh, need to put the right
00:33:48.230 --> 00:33:52.710
person in charge who can then organize throughout
00:33:52.710 --> 00:33:57.329
your kingdom to take a portion of all your produce
00:33:57.329 --> 00:34:00.230
during the times of plenty so that we can be
00:34:00.230 --> 00:34:03.710
prepared for the time of famine. And Pharaoh
00:34:03.710 --> 00:34:06.809
says, you're the guy. So there Joseph didn't
00:34:06.809 --> 00:34:10.849
presume. So what am I saying? In my own life,
00:34:11.349 --> 00:34:14.869
all of my petitions that have been answered that
00:34:14.869 --> 00:34:18.349
haven't been answered the way I originally was
00:34:18.349 --> 00:34:21.929
requesting have always been answered in a way
00:34:21.929 --> 00:34:25.949
that had been infinitely better than my meager
00:34:25.949 --> 00:34:29.630
original request fathomed or what I originally
00:34:29.630 --> 00:34:34.170
thought I was asking for. My example is Joseph.
00:34:34.380 --> 00:34:36.860
saying, cup bearer, get me out of prisons, you
00:34:36.860 --> 00:34:38.940
know, tell Pharaoh so I can get out of prison.
00:34:39.139 --> 00:34:42.039
His thought process was probably just get me
00:34:42.039 --> 00:34:45.019
out of prison. That's a Bob Red thought process.
00:34:45.639 --> 00:34:48.619
But in reality, God wanted him to be in prison
00:34:48.619 --> 00:34:52.079
for another two years. And then when the right
00:34:52.079 --> 00:34:55.760
opportunity, this vision or dream of Pharaoh
00:34:55.760 --> 00:35:00.639
allowed Pharaoh to see the hand of God through
00:35:00.639 --> 00:35:05.000
Joseph. And that was immeasurably greater than
00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:08.760
what Joseph was requesting of God. And that's
00:35:08.760 --> 00:35:11.579
the example where when we don't have answered
00:35:11.579 --> 00:35:14.639
prayer, or when we get an answer to prayer that
00:35:14.639 --> 00:35:17.480
wasn't the answer we were looking for, as we
00:35:17.480 --> 00:35:20.860
look back on the panorama of the original request
00:35:20.860 --> 00:35:23.800
and what the outcome has been, we can see that
00:35:23.800 --> 00:35:27.860
our life is immeasurably better because of it,
00:35:27.940 --> 00:35:32.500
whatever that outcome is. That is peace and is
00:35:32.500 --> 00:35:36.039
a sense of living in that way, in the moments,
00:35:36.159 --> 00:35:39.380
the everyday moments, with that mindset that
00:35:39.380 --> 00:35:42.699
I'm trusting in the will of God. His providential
00:35:42.699 --> 00:35:46.820
hand is on my request, even though I don't have
00:35:46.820 --> 00:35:51.019
the outcome of it yet, or even though I won't
00:35:51.019 --> 00:35:54.099
have the outcome I'm looking for. He's at work.
00:35:54.340 --> 00:35:59.539
And if I truly trust in that, all of my circumstances
00:35:59.539 --> 00:36:03.719
become more peaceful and easier way for me to
00:36:03.719 --> 00:36:06.739
live. All right. Thanks for sharing that, Bob.
00:36:07.420 --> 00:36:09.460
Yeah. So this has been heavy on my heart and
00:36:09.460 --> 00:36:12.440
I hope help make a difference in maybe how you
00:36:12.440 --> 00:36:16.239
can look at prayer requests and how you can understand
00:36:16.239 --> 00:36:20.099
how we are to live our lives in the anticipation
00:36:20.099 --> 00:36:24.039
of God responding to our requests. With that,
00:36:24.559 --> 00:36:28.260
Anne, will you take us before the throne? Father,
00:36:28.320 --> 00:36:30.780
thank you for this time that we could talk together
00:36:30.780 --> 00:36:34.219
about prayer. We thank you for the Bible that
00:36:34.219 --> 00:36:37.739
has examples in it that we can learn from and
00:36:37.739 --> 00:36:40.559
be encouraged from. We thank you for Hannah and
00:36:40.559 --> 00:36:44.619
her. determination and her faithfulness to continue
00:36:44.619 --> 00:36:47.039
in prayer for her heart's desire. And we thank
00:36:47.039 --> 00:36:49.820
you for Paul, that even as he prayed and didn't
00:36:49.820 --> 00:36:51.679
get an answer that he wanted, that he continued
00:36:51.679 --> 00:36:53.980
to trust in you. And we thank you for Joseph
00:36:53.980 --> 00:36:56.460
and for his life and for the way that he honored
00:36:56.460 --> 00:37:00.679
you and trusted you and depended on you for the
00:37:00.679 --> 00:37:02.980
outcomes of his prayers. Lord, we just pray that
00:37:02.980 --> 00:37:07.329
you would help us all as we wrestle with difficult
00:37:07.329 --> 00:37:09.809
things that are going on in our lives, that we
00:37:09.809 --> 00:37:12.190
would remember that you're with us, that your
00:37:12.190 --> 00:37:14.889
grace is sufficient, that you are sovereign and
00:37:14.889 --> 00:37:17.150
in control, and that we can trust you for the
00:37:17.150 --> 00:37:19.449
outcomes of our prayers. Lord, we pray that we
00:37:19.449 --> 00:37:23.769
would not grow weary of doing good and of coming
00:37:23.769 --> 00:37:26.289
to you and spending time before your throne,
00:37:26.289 --> 00:37:30.030
that we would continue to bring our requests
00:37:30.030 --> 00:37:33.550
and our concerns to you and lay them at the cross
00:37:33.550 --> 00:37:36.760
and be willing to leave them there and to trust
00:37:36.760 --> 00:37:38.659
that you're going to work out a solution that's
00:37:38.659 --> 00:37:41.039
best. God, we thank you for your providence,
00:37:41.239 --> 00:37:43.619
for the way that you give us everything that
00:37:43.619 --> 00:37:47.199
we need. And we pray that we would remember that
00:37:47.199 --> 00:37:50.719
when we have Jesus, we really do have everything
00:37:50.719 --> 00:37:52.960
that we need. Sometimes it's hard to get caught
00:37:52.960 --> 00:37:55.019
up in the physical world and all the demands
00:37:55.019 --> 00:37:58.440
and things that our daily lives require of us.
00:37:58.440 --> 00:38:00.280
But we pray that you'd help us keep our eyes
00:38:00.280 --> 00:38:03.039
on you, set our minds on things above, and live
00:38:03.039 --> 00:38:06.110
with an eternity in mind. Thank you, God, for
00:38:06.110 --> 00:38:08.829
the way that you love us. We pray this in your
00:38:08.829 --> 00:38:15.130
name. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Anne. Well, there
00:38:15.130 --> 00:38:17.769
you have it. We've enjoyed our conversation today
00:38:17.769 --> 00:38:20.769
and hope that you feel more equipped to examine
00:38:20.769 --> 00:38:23.889
scripture to find what God has to say about the
00:38:23.889 --> 00:38:27.510
important circumstances you're facing in your
00:38:27.510 --> 00:38:30.750
life. Until next time, examine the scripture,
00:38:31.389 --> 00:38:33.949
drink from the word of life, and let the Bible
00:38:33.949 --> 00:38:34.969
feed your spirit.
00:00:01.360 --> 00:00:04.900
Welcome to Examining Scripture. We seek to encourage
00:00:04.900 --> 00:00:07.919
believers in Jesus Christ to drink from the Word
00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:11.039
of Life. As God's revelation to mankind, we want
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to demystify the Bible and help you find what
00:00:13.679 --> 00:00:16.600
God has to say about the circumstances you're
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facing. We're not pastors or theologians. We're
00:00:19.500 --> 00:00:22.859
sinners just like you who, by the grace of God,
00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:25.899
have come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. If
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we can thirst for Scripture, so can you. Hi,
00:00:28.679 --> 00:00:31.899
I'm your host, Bob Redd. along with co -host
00:00:31.899 --> 00:00:34.859
Anne Burt. Thank you for joining us in another
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episode of Examining Scripture. Morning, Anne.
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Good morning, Bob. We are moving into the fall
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here, and actually this podcast is our halfway
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point of our fourth season. I want to spend this
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podcast talking about something highly personal
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to me, and it's personal in the sense that It's
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a way in which I've been living for the last
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three, four, five years. If I could sum it up
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this way, it's recognizing and living in the
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providential will of God. And in so doing, what
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I've found is how easy it is compared to my wishes,
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my desires, trying to force my way on the world,
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the things that I desire to the things I want.
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and turning it over to God. And there's two elements
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in that, I find. So the one element that everybody
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will easily recognize is specific prayer requests.
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So for example, our big prayer requests, we had
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been going down to Florida in the winter, we
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spend our summers here in Buffalo, and there
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really were two prayer requests around that.
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One is looking for Diane to find community in
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Florida. And so one of my prayers, selfish as
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it has been, would be Lord, because we're going
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back and forth from Buffalo and Florida, Diane
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wants to relocate to a warmer climate. Certainly
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Buffalo isn't that in the winter. Perhaps she
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can find community in Florida. Florida is a warm
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environment. warm climate, sunny, and all those
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things that's important to her. Hopefully she
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can find community in such a way that she wants
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to relocate and live there so we can live out
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the next season of our life. So that was a selfish
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prayer. Yet it's a prayer nonetheless that I
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was having. And with that other prayer comes,
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well, if we're going to have Dianne find community,
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perhaps it's important that we find the place
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for that next season where we can live and relocate
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permanently from Buffalo to Florida. And so these
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were two very specific prayer requests. And of
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course, as I'm prone to do, I request or I pray
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often about that. That's the first part of what
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I want us to discuss. The second part of what
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I want to discuss is what happens in the interim
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when I'm not getting the answer. You mean while
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you're waiting to find the perfect house in Florida?
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Yes, and while I'm waiting for the Lord to bring
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people into Diane's life that builds a community
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for her, right? So those are sort of the two
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things. So then the second part, what I hope
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we'll cover in this podcast, how do we, Anne
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and Bob, and hopefully then be for our listeners,
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approach our everyday life while we're waiting
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for answers to these big questions or these big
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requests. So the first question I have for you,
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Anne, is, is there any limit to the big questions
00:04:04.289 --> 00:04:07.210
in your life at any one time? My example was,
00:04:07.250 --> 00:04:09.330
well, I want Diane to find community. And if
00:04:09.330 --> 00:04:13.110
she finds community, I am asking for the Lord
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to lead us to the right place. In this case,
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we're talking about a physical home, right? sort
00:04:20.509 --> 00:04:23.610
of one of my requests bleeds into the other.
00:04:23.910 --> 00:04:26.389
There probably were other, many other requests
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that I had on my mind in terms of petitions to
00:04:30.170 --> 00:04:34.009
God, but those were big ones. You mean, is there
00:04:34.009 --> 00:04:35.889
a limit to the number of big prayers we're allowed
00:04:35.889 --> 00:04:40.750
to have at one time? Yeah, and yeah. Well, I
00:04:40.750 --> 00:04:43.569
would have to say no. In my opinion, God can
00:04:43.569 --> 00:04:48.319
handle big prayers from all of us, all the time,
00:04:48.379 --> 00:04:51.819
He's just amazing and sovereign and He hears
00:04:51.819 --> 00:04:54.980
every one of our prayers and He's working on
00:04:54.980 --> 00:04:57.379
all the solutions behind the scenes. I mean,
00:04:57.459 --> 00:05:00.060
I believe God's always working something for
00:05:00.060 --> 00:05:04.639
His glory, for our good, but it is hard when
00:05:04.639 --> 00:05:08.360
we don't see answers, when we don't see anything
00:05:08.360 --> 00:05:12.639
changing, but I think we need to still continue
00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:15.610
to bring those requests to the Lord. I think
00:05:15.610 --> 00:05:17.730
one of the interesting things about prayer is
00:05:17.730 --> 00:05:21.949
that when you pray for something for a long time,
00:05:22.410 --> 00:05:27.170
it can have a positive effect on you, the way
00:05:27.170 --> 00:05:30.930
you pray, the thought process that you go through,
00:05:31.170 --> 00:05:34.790
and the emotions that you feel when you're praying.
00:05:35.069 --> 00:05:38.029
Sometimes we can, over long periods of time,
00:05:38.230 --> 00:05:41.310
become more peaceful because we know we're bringing
00:05:41.310 --> 00:05:44.209
this request to the Lord and even though He's
00:05:44.209 --> 00:05:47.509
not answering right away, we can trust Him to
00:05:47.509 --> 00:05:50.769
still work it out in His timing, because His
00:05:50.769 --> 00:05:54.120
timing's not always our timing. Yeah, amen to
00:05:54.120 --> 00:05:58.240
that. So I can think of three kind of examples,
00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:00.319
and I think we can point to them in Scripture
00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:05.439
to help clarify it for our listener. The first
00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:09.819
two I can think of is answered prayer. One in
00:06:09.819 --> 00:06:13.529
the positive, meaning God honors our requests
00:06:13.529 --> 00:06:17.370
and gives us the outcome of that request. And
00:06:17.370 --> 00:06:19.829
then the other is we get an answer and it's not
00:06:19.829 --> 00:06:22.769
the request we're looking for. And then the third
00:06:22.769 --> 00:06:28.509
one is this idea of not having an answer or maybe
00:06:28.509 --> 00:06:32.149
not having an answer yet, meaning either God
00:06:32.149 --> 00:06:38.550
hasn't yet responded to our requests and or that
00:06:38.550 --> 00:06:43.220
God really is saying no. and His silence is no,
00:06:43.259 --> 00:06:46.420
and that's always hard for us to interpret. Is
00:06:46.420 --> 00:06:50.939
God saying not yet or is God saying no? So let's
00:06:50.939 --> 00:06:53.639
look at a couple of these examples. Let's first
00:06:53.639 --> 00:06:57.360
look at the example of someone who has prayed
00:06:57.360 --> 00:07:00.420
and prayed and prayed for requests, and finally
00:07:00.420 --> 00:07:02.800
there becomes an answer. And I'm thinking of
00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:09.060
Hannah. If we turn to 1 Samuel chapter 1, verse
00:07:09.060 --> 00:07:12.779
20 of chapter 1, verse 3 or verse 9? Where should
00:07:12.779 --> 00:07:16.279
we start? Well, maybe we can summarize a little
00:07:16.279 --> 00:07:19.180
bit at the beginning. A woman named Hannah and
00:07:19.180 --> 00:07:22.759
her husband, Elkanah, although he had two wives
00:07:22.759 --> 00:07:25.939
and one of his wives had children, but Hannah
00:07:25.939 --> 00:07:29.779
had no children. Elkanah's other wife would always
00:07:29.779 --> 00:07:32.899
sort of needle Hannah and make her feel bad because
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she didn't have any children, but Elkanah loved
00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:38.589
her and they would go up every year to the temple
00:07:38.589 --> 00:07:43.089
to make sacrifices and one year when Hannah went
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she was praying very very earnestly before the
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Lord. So maybe we can pick that up in verse 9?
00:07:50.490 --> 00:07:53.870
Sure, would you like me to read it? Please. Once
00:07:53.870 --> 00:07:55.889
when they had finished eating and drinking in
00:07:55.889 --> 00:07:59.149
Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was
00:07:59.149 --> 00:08:01.490
sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the Lord's
00:08:01.490 --> 00:08:04.529
temple. In bitterness of soul, Hannah wept much
00:08:04.529 --> 00:08:07.740
and prayed to the Lord. and she made a vow saying,
00:08:08.100 --> 00:08:10.379
Oh Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon
00:08:10.379 --> 00:08:13.459
your servant's misery and remember me and not
00:08:13.459 --> 00:08:16.759
forget your servant, but give her a son, then
00:08:16.759 --> 00:08:18.720
I will give him to the Lord for all the days
00:08:18.720 --> 00:08:21.439
of his life and no razor will ever be used on
00:08:21.439 --> 00:08:24.860
his head. As she kept on praying to the Lord,
00:08:25.500 --> 00:08:28.459
Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying in
00:08:28.459 --> 00:08:31.360
her heart and her lips were moving, but her voice
00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:34.539
was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk and
00:08:34.539 --> 00:08:36.889
said to her, How long will you keep on getting
00:08:36.889 --> 00:08:40.769
drunk? Get rid of your wine. Not so, my Lord,"
00:08:40.769 --> 00:08:43.750
Hannah replied. I am a woman who is deeply troubled.
00:08:44.169 --> 00:08:46.789
I have not been drinking wine or beer. I was
00:08:46.789 --> 00:08:50.529
pouring out my soul to the Lord. Do not take
00:08:50.529 --> 00:08:53.250
your servant for a wicked woman. I have been
00:08:53.250 --> 00:08:56.250
praying here out of my great anguish and grief.
00:08:57.110 --> 00:09:00.529
Eli answered, Go in peace and may the God of
00:09:00.529 --> 00:09:03.049
Israel grant you what you have asked of him.
00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:34.899
What a great story, huh? It is a good story.
00:09:35.559 --> 00:09:38.679
It's a happy ending. It is a happy ending. A
00:09:38.679 --> 00:09:40.919
difficult story for Hannah though. She endured
00:09:40.919 --> 00:09:44.909
a lot. Yeah the implication of the scripture
00:09:44.909 --> 00:09:48.070
there is that it was year after year she's being
00:09:48.070 --> 00:09:52.149
needled by Elkanah's other wife who's been blessed
00:09:52.149 --> 00:09:57.210
with children. In that time of in Palestine and
00:09:57.210 --> 00:10:01.879
it was very much a blessing for women to have
00:10:01.879 --> 00:10:04.139
children. And when women couldn't have children,
00:10:07.090 --> 00:10:11.409
their barrenness was considered a rebuke of the
00:10:11.409 --> 00:10:15.600
Lord, wasn't it? Yes, I believe so. Yeah. And
00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:21.429
so finally she gets an answer. And I love how
00:10:21.429 --> 00:10:29.200
it says after Eli tells her to go, her Go in
00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:33.039
peace, the Lord has heard her. And it says, so
00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:37.299
the woman went her way and ate and her face was
00:10:37.299 --> 00:10:42.919
no longer sad. What I love about that is that
00:10:42.919 --> 00:10:46.879
peace that came over her while she wasn't yet
00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:51.080
pregnant with Samuel, she trusted in Eli. She
00:10:51.080 --> 00:10:53.460
trusted in the message of the Lord through another.
00:10:53.759 --> 00:10:56.100
And she received, it was sort of like a little
00:10:56.100 --> 00:10:58.759
blessing, right? May the Lord grant you your
00:10:58.759 --> 00:11:03.799
request. We do know that earlier in 1 Samuel
00:11:03.799 --> 00:11:07.080
it talks about how year after year they went
00:11:07.080 --> 00:11:09.620
before the temple and she poured out her heart
00:11:09.620 --> 00:11:13.519
and she was saddened because she had this great
00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:17.580
request and it wasn't honored or at least it
00:11:17.580 --> 00:11:20.879
hadn't been answered by God until finally this
00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:24.230
point. Samuel's a very big and very important
00:11:24.230 --> 00:11:28.309
person in Scripture, right? He is the first of
00:11:28.309 --> 00:11:32.950
the true prophets. And so it's a tremendous story
00:11:32.950 --> 00:11:37.350
of one continually in prayer, one continually
00:11:37.350 --> 00:11:40.429
petitioning the Lord for an outcome that finally
00:11:40.429 --> 00:11:44.210
gets answered. Yes. Hannah got her yes, and she
00:11:44.210 --> 00:11:46.350
was grateful to the Lord, and she showed her
00:11:46.350 --> 00:11:48.600
thankfulness. And she honored the Lord, didn't
00:11:48.600 --> 00:11:52.019
she? Because that's exactly what she did. She
00:11:52.019 --> 00:11:55.279
turned Samuel over to the Lord, and the Lord
00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:58.000
greatly blessed her and greatly blessed Samuel.
00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:01.820
And Samuel became a very important person in
00:12:01.820 --> 00:12:05.779
the life of Israel. He was the prophet that God
00:12:05.779 --> 00:12:10.779
gave the great gift of selecting the eventual
00:12:10.779 --> 00:12:14.750
King of Israel, David. Indeed. Well, let's look
00:12:14.750 --> 00:12:17.009
it doesn't always go that way, right? Well a
00:12:17.009 --> 00:12:19.850
good point So let's let's look at an example
00:12:19.850 --> 00:12:22.110
where doesn't go quite that way and I'm thinking
00:12:22.110 --> 00:12:28.809
of Paul 2nd Corinthians 12 7 through 10 To keep
00:12:28.809 --> 00:12:32.090
me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly
00:12:32.090 --> 00:12:35.549
great revelations there was given me a thorn
00:12:35.549 --> 00:12:39.789
in my flesh a messenger of Satan to torment me
00:12:39.789 --> 00:12:42.389
three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it
00:12:42.389 --> 00:12:46.269
away from me But he said to me, my grace is sufficient
00:12:46.269 --> 00:12:49.529
for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.
00:12:50.409 --> 00:12:53.210
Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about
00:12:53.210 --> 00:12:56.190
my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest
00:12:56.190 --> 00:12:59.610
on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight
00:12:59.610 --> 00:13:04.090
in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions,
00:13:04.289 --> 00:13:07.750
in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am
00:13:07.750 --> 00:13:11.820
strong. So what was going on there? Sounds like
00:13:11.820 --> 00:13:14.700
Paul's asking God to do something and God's saying
00:13:14.700 --> 00:13:17.940
no, I'm not gonna give you what you want You're
00:13:17.940 --> 00:13:20.399
gonna have to deal with it and know that I'm
00:13:20.399 --> 00:13:23.539
with you and I'm my grace is sufficient for you.
00:13:23.539 --> 00:13:28.000
You can deal with this Sorry, Paul. That's right.
00:13:28.139 --> 00:13:33.059
So the good news here in this is Here's a person
00:13:33.059 --> 00:13:37.100
making petitions to God and he gets an answer.
00:13:37.100 --> 00:13:40.299
He does The tough news is it's not the answer
00:13:40.299 --> 00:13:44.500
he's looking for. Unfortunately not. But, I don't
00:13:44.500 --> 00:13:46.720
know, when we go through hard times, do we sometimes
00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:49.200
develop a closer walk with the Lord? Maybe all
00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:53.299
the hard things aren't so bad in the end. I think
00:13:53.299 --> 00:13:56.340
that's right. I think that's one of the very
00:13:56.340 --> 00:13:59.039
important takeaways here. I think the other important
00:13:59.039 --> 00:14:04.379
takeaway is our desires or our wants aren't always
00:14:04.379 --> 00:14:08.289
what God's desire is, what his want is. If we
00:14:08.289 --> 00:14:12.250
think about Paul's sharing this with the Corinthians,
00:14:12.710 --> 00:14:15.529
kind of what was going on, I always keep this
00:14:15.529 --> 00:14:19.149
in mind when I think about Paul, when I read
00:14:19.149 --> 00:14:22.029
about his writings. And I think here's a guy
00:14:22.029 --> 00:14:27.169
that was under tremendous persecution, but he
00:14:27.169 --> 00:14:31.269
first persecuted the church. And how could a
00:14:31.269 --> 00:14:37.399
guy continually stay on point? continually do
00:14:37.399 --> 00:14:41.840
what he was commissioned to do by Christ, which
00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:45.700
is to preach the gospel to the Gentiles under
00:14:45.700 --> 00:14:48.919
such oppressive circumstances in many ways, in
00:14:48.919 --> 00:14:52.019
many cases. Then I think, well, wait a minute,
00:14:53.080 --> 00:14:58.710
Paul got to meet the risen Lord. Yes, that changes
00:14:58.710 --> 00:15:02.370
a person. Yeah, right? I think if I met the risen
00:15:02.370 --> 00:15:06.049
Lord, all this worldly stuff, good, bad or indifferent,
00:15:06.299 --> 00:15:10.159
can't overcome that, can't trump that. Right.
00:15:10.919 --> 00:15:15.039
Because Paul had met the risen Lord, the human
00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:17.139
nature of Paul, and we could go back and we're
00:15:17.139 --> 00:15:20.039
not going to to Romans chapter seven, where Paul
00:15:20.039 --> 00:15:24.440
talks about this conflict between his sin nature,
00:15:24.759 --> 00:15:28.860
his fleshly nature and his spiritual nature of
00:15:28.860 --> 00:15:32.179
wanting to do the will of God. That's the humanness
00:15:32.179 --> 00:15:35.779
in Paul. And one of the temptations Paul must
00:15:35.779 --> 00:15:39.399
have always faced. You know, I'm all that and
00:15:39.399 --> 00:15:42.200
a bag of chips. That's one of those American
00:15:42.200 --> 00:15:44.759
sayings, right? Where, you know what? I've met
00:15:44.759 --> 00:15:48.580
the risen Lord and you haven't. So I'm either
00:15:48.580 --> 00:15:52.480
more important to you or I'm superior to you
00:15:52.480 --> 00:15:57.100
or you should listen to me because you haven't
00:15:57.100 --> 00:16:00.539
been given the grace of meeting the Lord as I
00:16:00.539 --> 00:16:03.440
have. I think you're saying that Paul could have
00:16:03.580 --> 00:16:06.240
become conceited, like it says in here, to keep
00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:09.360
me from being conceited. But I don't think Paul
00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:12.740
thought he was all that amazing because of the
00:16:12.740 --> 00:16:15.340
encounter with Jesus. I think the encounter on
00:16:15.340 --> 00:16:18.679
the road to Damascus with Jesus was what inspired
00:16:18.679 --> 00:16:22.779
him and gave him the confidence that Jesus is
00:16:22.779 --> 00:16:25.940
absolutely the Christ, and I have no doubt about
00:16:25.940 --> 00:16:28.080
it anymore. And now I'm going to tell everybody,
00:16:28.620 --> 00:16:32.049
in that moment, he was told that God was going
00:16:32.049 --> 00:16:33.970
to rescue him from his own people and from the
00:16:33.970 --> 00:16:36.970
Gentiles so that he could go everywhere and preach
00:16:36.970 --> 00:16:39.970
the gospel. And so that's what he was doing.
00:16:40.029 --> 00:16:42.730
He was just being obedient to the call that God
00:16:42.730 --> 00:16:45.769
put on his life. And yes, it was going to be
00:16:45.769 --> 00:16:48.409
hard. But I think Paul always said, well, look
00:16:48.409 --> 00:16:50.750
at what Jesus went through. Look at what my Savior
00:16:50.750 --> 00:16:53.570
suffered for me. I can handle a little chains.
00:16:53.649 --> 00:16:56.009
I can handle a little prison. I don't mind a
00:16:56.009 --> 00:16:58.029
shipwreck since we're all going to make it through
00:16:58.029 --> 00:17:01.299
in the end. But I think It was the encounter
00:17:01.299 --> 00:17:04.259
with Christ that transformed him and gave him
00:17:04.259 --> 00:17:08.079
the desire and the eagerness and the drive and
00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:11.059
the passion to go and tell everybody about the
00:17:11.059 --> 00:17:13.460
gospel. I don't think he was going to use that
00:17:13.460 --> 00:17:16.839
as a reason to brag to others or make himself
00:17:16.839 --> 00:17:19.660
higher up than other people. Yeah, I think that's
00:17:19.660 --> 00:17:24.519
exactly right. And I'm reminded of what Peter
00:17:24.519 --> 00:17:28.200
said, where he's talking about this humility.
00:17:28.589 --> 00:17:31.869
And we're called, right, to humble ourselves.
00:17:32.069 --> 00:17:37.230
I'm reminded of James 410, which says, Humble
00:17:37.230 --> 00:17:39.990
yourself before the Lord, and He will lift you
00:17:39.990 --> 00:17:43.930
up. Some translations say He'll exalt you. In
00:17:43.930 --> 00:17:48.809
chapter 5 of 1 Peter, verse 6, it says, Therefore
00:17:48.809 --> 00:17:51.309
humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,
00:17:51.690 --> 00:17:54.730
that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting
00:17:54.730 --> 00:17:58.180
all your anxiety on Him. because He cares for
00:17:58.180 --> 00:18:01.519
you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your
00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:04.400
adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring
00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:08.319
lion seeking someone to devour. But resist Him,
00:18:08.539 --> 00:18:11.400
firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences
00:18:11.400 --> 00:18:14.859
of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren
00:18:14.859 --> 00:18:17.579
who are in the world. After you have suffered
00:18:17.579 --> 00:18:20.000
a little while, the God of all grace who called
00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:23.799
you to His eternal glory in Christ will Himself
00:18:23.799 --> 00:18:27.910
perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.
00:18:28.430 --> 00:18:32.930
And so what we see in Paul is saying, you know,
00:18:32.970 --> 00:18:35.369
I have this thorn. We're not told what the thorn
00:18:35.369 --> 00:18:38.849
is, are we Anne? No, and I don't think for our
00:18:38.849 --> 00:18:41.789
purpose today it even really matters. No, that's
00:18:41.789 --> 00:18:44.650
right. I mean, to your point, Paul was a great
00:18:44.650 --> 00:18:47.450
man. Even before he came to know the Lord, he
00:18:47.450 --> 00:18:49.630
had a lot of credentials that would make him
00:18:49.630 --> 00:18:52.150
seem... like an important person. And then, of
00:18:52.150 --> 00:18:54.150
course, he had this encounter with Jesus, and
00:18:54.150 --> 00:18:56.490
spiritually he seems to be very close to God,
00:18:56.529 --> 00:18:59.390
and he's this great apostle. And you would think
00:18:59.390 --> 00:19:02.089
that all of Paul's prayers would get answered,
00:19:02.470 --> 00:19:06.589
yes, but this one didn't. So what do we do with
00:19:06.589 --> 00:19:09.170
that? Yeah, so what do we do with that? Well,
00:19:09.369 --> 00:19:13.650
you know, I think Paul answers that in Philippians
00:19:13.650 --> 00:19:18.490
4, 10 through 13. Can we go there? Yes, Philippians
00:19:18.490 --> 00:19:22.829
4, 10. I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at
00:19:22.829 --> 00:19:25.910
last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed,
00:19:26.109 --> 00:19:28.690
you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity
00:19:28.690 --> 00:19:31.589
to show it. I'm not saying this because I am
00:19:31.589 --> 00:19:35.230
in need, for I have learned to be content whatever
00:19:35.230 --> 00:19:38.730
the circumstances. I know what it is to be in
00:19:38.730 --> 00:19:42.289
need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I
00:19:42.289 --> 00:19:45.049
have learned the secret of being content in any
00:19:45.049 --> 00:19:48.869
and every situation, whether well -fed or hungry.
00:19:49.049 --> 00:19:52.430
whether living in plenty or in want, I can do
00:19:52.430 --> 00:19:55.390
everything through him who gives me strength."
00:19:55.390 --> 00:19:58.670
Here's Paul saying, yeah, I made this specific
00:19:58.670 --> 00:20:02.329
request and the Lord said, my grace is sufficient
00:20:02.329 --> 00:20:06.549
for you. Paul's lesson in hearing the answer
00:20:06.549 --> 00:20:08.930
he doesn't want, meaning the thorn in the flesh
00:20:08.930 --> 00:20:12.309
wasn't removed, is that in his weakness he is
00:20:12.309 --> 00:20:15.509
strong and he's strong in the Lord. He writes
00:20:15.509 --> 00:20:18.450
later, What he's gleaned out of this is through
00:20:18.450 --> 00:20:21.950
hardship and through plenty, I live for the Lord.
00:20:22.569 --> 00:20:25.029
And the Lord is always with me. I have everything
00:20:25.029 --> 00:20:31.160
that I need. Yeah. Which really blends into the
00:20:31.160 --> 00:20:35.740
third circumstance, right? Where you're asking
00:20:35.740 --> 00:20:40.079
of God a request, maybe several, and you're not
00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:43.259
hearing an answer. The beauty is Hannah got an
00:20:43.259 --> 00:20:45.579
answer and she liked it. It was an answer to
00:20:45.579 --> 00:20:48.670
her prayer. Paul was making a request, probably
00:20:48.670 --> 00:20:51.109
doesn't like it at first, but he gets an answer.
00:20:51.890 --> 00:20:54.970
And one of the beauties of getting an answer
00:20:54.970 --> 00:20:58.849
is it's final, right? It's, what do you do with
00:20:58.849 --> 00:21:01.329
it? Well, I've got my answer, so now I have to
00:21:01.329 --> 00:21:03.829
accept it, sometimes gladly, because it's the
00:21:03.829 --> 00:21:06.869
outcome I want, and sometimes we have to take
00:21:06.869 --> 00:21:11.549
the answer for what it is and see God's purpose
00:21:11.549 --> 00:21:14.759
in that. So what do we do in the circumstance
00:21:14.759 --> 00:21:18.680
where we're making these petitions and we haven't
00:21:18.680 --> 00:21:22.339
yet had an answer from God? And that answer from
00:21:22.339 --> 00:21:26.240
God probably has two outcomes, right? Well, sure.
00:21:26.420 --> 00:21:28.799
I mean, it's wait, wait, wait, and you get a
00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:32.019
yes or wait, wait, wait, and you get a no. But
00:21:32.019 --> 00:21:34.599
at some point, do you question the I'm waiting,
00:21:34.740 --> 00:21:36.579
I'm waiting, I'm waiting? Is there ever going
00:21:36.579 --> 00:21:40.319
to be a yes or is this just not going to happen?
00:21:41.309 --> 00:21:44.890
And what do we do with that? I think it's difficult
00:21:44.890 --> 00:21:48.150
and I think it depends on what you're asking
00:21:48.150 --> 00:21:50.750
for. You know, we talked a little bit about if
00:21:50.750 --> 00:21:53.730
you're unemployed and you really need a job and,
00:21:53.769 --> 00:21:57.269
you know, you send out two resumes and then wait
00:21:57.269 --> 00:22:00.049
for somebody to call you and say, oh, well, you
00:22:00.049 --> 00:22:02.049
know, if that doesn't work out, I'm sure somebody
00:22:02.049 --> 00:22:05.049
will want to offer me a job. Right. Or do you
00:22:05.049 --> 00:22:08.329
do you keep applying and keep sending out resumes
00:22:08.329 --> 00:22:12.690
and keep keep looking and then ask God to help
00:22:12.690 --> 00:22:14.789
you. Well, where should I look? What company
00:22:14.789 --> 00:22:17.089
do you have for me? And you know, what job is
00:22:17.089 --> 00:22:19.470
there that you see is going to fit good with
00:22:19.470 --> 00:22:21.849
my life? And you know, you can't just sit on
00:22:21.849 --> 00:22:23.849
a couch and eat chips and expect someone to call
00:22:23.849 --> 00:22:27.430
and offer you your dream job. Yeah, I think what
00:22:27.430 --> 00:22:30.650
you're saying is, you know, we have to still
00:22:30.650 --> 00:22:33.730
live life, right? Yeah, you have to take reasonable
00:22:33.730 --> 00:22:36.369
steps to work towards your goals and what your
00:22:36.369 --> 00:22:38.630
hopes and dreams are. You know, if you, I don't
00:22:38.630 --> 00:22:41.589
know, maybe just trite example, but if you're
00:22:41.589 --> 00:22:44.509
trying to lose weight, you should try to, you
00:22:44.509 --> 00:22:46.750
know, if you don't change anything, that's probably
00:22:46.750 --> 00:22:49.849
not going to happen. But if you, you know, exercise
00:22:49.849 --> 00:22:52.190
a little bit more, eat a little bit healthier,
00:22:52.430 --> 00:22:54.670
maybe then you're working towards your goals.
00:22:54.750 --> 00:22:56.950
And even though it's hard, you know, this is
00:22:56.950 --> 00:22:58.769
when you pray, Lord, give me self -control, give
00:22:58.769 --> 00:23:01.890
me some discipline, give me opportunities to
00:23:01.890 --> 00:23:05.670
do better. And as he provides those, you can
00:23:05.670 --> 00:23:09.190
work towards your goals. That's right. The point
00:23:09.190 --> 00:23:13.630
is that you have to live life. In the case of
00:23:13.630 --> 00:23:16.569
a request to lose weight, you have to do something
00:23:16.569 --> 00:23:18.930
about it. You have to change your diet. You have
00:23:18.930 --> 00:23:21.930
to exercise. I'm reminded of the silly, stupid
00:23:21.930 --> 00:23:25.190
joke that says this person was praying, Lord,
00:23:25.430 --> 00:23:27.730
please let me win the lottery. And he prayed
00:23:27.730 --> 00:23:30.569
day after day after day. And finally, Lord answers
00:23:30.569 --> 00:23:32.529
him and said, well, you know, will you at least
00:23:32.529 --> 00:23:37.779
buy a ticket? Sure. And, you know, that's the
00:23:37.779 --> 00:23:41.039
point. I mean, if we sit there and pray for something
00:23:41.039 --> 00:23:44.440
and we don't just act out and live our life,
00:23:44.539 --> 00:23:48.500
and here I'm talking about living it in a Christian
00:23:48.500 --> 00:23:51.799
way, in Christ -likeness, being in Scripture,
00:23:52.140 --> 00:23:55.819
praying, being active, right? Your example is
00:23:55.819 --> 00:23:59.640
a perfect example of, okay, someone's looking
00:23:59.640 --> 00:24:02.000
for a job. Well, I think there's two elements
00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:05.480
to that, that one you said quite nicely. write
00:24:05.480 --> 00:24:09.359
your resume, send it out, apply to job openings.
00:24:09.660 --> 00:24:12.700
The other part of it, and many times it's actually
00:24:12.700 --> 00:24:16.000
the most important part, is to network, to get
00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:19.539
out and to meet people, to talk to people, to
00:24:19.539 --> 00:24:22.119
show them who you are. And many times people
00:24:22.119 --> 00:24:25.940
will find their interactions with other people
00:24:25.940 --> 00:24:30.140
in public situations, in networking situations
00:24:30.140 --> 00:24:33.519
is a a wonderful way where someone says, you
00:24:33.519 --> 00:24:36.180
know, you're a pretty good person. I like your
00:24:36.180 --> 00:24:39.240
demeanor. It sounds like you have the right skill
00:24:39.240 --> 00:24:43.480
set. I know so and so that's looking for someone
00:24:43.480 --> 00:24:48.279
with your particular skills. And lo and behold,
00:24:48.740 --> 00:24:51.559
they connect you up. You go meet with that person.
00:24:51.579 --> 00:24:53.960
And before you know it, you have a job and that
00:24:53.960 --> 00:24:58.819
job never hit the job posting websites or any
00:24:58.819 --> 00:25:01.759
of that. I think that's a marvelous example where,
00:25:01.980 --> 00:25:05.140
yeah, there's things that we need to do like
00:25:05.140 --> 00:25:08.339
updating your resume, sending it out to job posts.
00:25:08.519 --> 00:25:11.400
But the other part of it is we... If we're just
00:25:11.400 --> 00:25:13.799
living our life, if we're interacting day -to
00:25:13.799 --> 00:25:16.559
-day with people, fellowshipping in church, being
00:25:16.559 --> 00:25:20.200
out with other gatherings, that social interaction,
00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:23.640
being able to show who you are as a person, can
00:25:23.640 --> 00:25:27.220
many times lead to opportunities that would not
00:25:27.220 --> 00:25:30.259
otherwise come to us. And I think that's where
00:25:30.259 --> 00:25:33.819
I want to spend a little time here in the last
00:25:33.819 --> 00:25:37.960
part of the podcast. I call it living in God's
00:25:37.960 --> 00:25:40.480
providential will. and I've said it many times
00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:43.980
before, for me, it's every bit as miraculous
00:25:43.980 --> 00:25:47.900
to see the providential hand of God, the way
00:25:47.900 --> 00:25:51.839
He arranges the millions of contingencies of
00:25:51.839 --> 00:25:55.579
everyday life to bring about a particular outcome
00:25:55.579 --> 00:25:59.700
on my behalf or on your behalf. And to me, that's
00:25:59.700 --> 00:26:03.640
every bit as miraculous as the supernatural miracles
00:26:03.640 --> 00:26:07.539
that we see all the time in Scripture. and that
00:26:07.539 --> 00:26:11.359
we do see on occasion in the world today. It's
00:26:11.359 --> 00:26:15.059
not often, but those things certainly can happen
00:26:15.059 --> 00:26:18.460
because God can do anything and everything. Where
00:26:18.460 --> 00:26:21.940
I'm reminded of that in Scripture is probably
00:26:21.940 --> 00:26:24.700
in two areas, and we're not going to go there.
00:26:24.920 --> 00:26:28.359
One I'm thinking of is Joseph from Genesis 37
00:26:28.359 --> 00:26:32.160
through Genesis 50. We see the life of Joseph,
00:26:32.759 --> 00:26:35.960
a blessed life indeed. at work, and of course
00:26:35.960 --> 00:26:38.740
Scripture doesn't always give us all the detail.
00:26:39.680 --> 00:26:42.799
But we see a life of Joseph in the similar way
00:26:42.799 --> 00:26:47.039
we saw the life in Paul, where he's being guided
00:26:47.039 --> 00:26:50.359
by God through circumstances, and some of those
00:26:50.359 --> 00:26:53.700
are horrendous. He's being sold into slavery.
00:26:54.339 --> 00:26:59.420
He's being accused by the person whose household
00:26:59.420 --> 00:27:03.380
he's overseeing by his wife, who actually is
00:27:03.380 --> 00:27:08.140
trying to seduce him. And we see the vision that
00:27:08.140 --> 00:27:11.900
he has, or that he interprets, and it's again,
00:27:12.019 --> 00:27:14.559
he gives credit, all the credit to the Lord while
00:27:14.559 --> 00:27:17.579
he's in jail. And there are two different outcomes
00:27:17.579 --> 00:27:20.559
for two different people, a cupbearer and a baker.
00:27:20.779 --> 00:27:23.960
And we see the cupbearer being restored to his
00:27:23.960 --> 00:27:26.900
position, has this intimate relationship with
00:27:26.900 --> 00:27:29.579
Pharaoh, and he completely forgets about Joseph.
00:27:30.720 --> 00:27:35.000
And we just see this. And finally, he's reunited
00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:38.400
with his father, with his beloved brother Benjamin,
00:27:38.460 --> 00:27:42.380
and all of his other brothers. And he's actually
00:27:42.380 --> 00:27:47.259
the one who's given the charge over Pharaoh's
00:27:47.259 --> 00:27:52.890
entire country to prepare for a famine that Pharaoh
00:27:52.890 --> 00:27:56.089
himself saw in a vision, in a dream. Throughout
00:27:56.089 --> 00:28:02.890
those 23 chapters, we see this marvelous lifespan
00:28:02.890 --> 00:28:07.150
of an individual, Joseph, in this case, who is
00:28:07.150 --> 00:28:10.250
given a raw deal on several occasions, and yet
00:28:10.250 --> 00:28:13.890
maintains faith in the Lord, and he's restored,
00:28:14.150 --> 00:28:16.829
and he's restored, and he's restored. And maybe
00:28:16.829 --> 00:28:20.400
there's a pattern there for Israel itself. What
00:28:20.400 --> 00:28:24.259
do you say to a story like that to people? What
00:28:24.259 --> 00:28:27.019
is it that you say in terms of people's prayers
00:28:27.019 --> 00:28:32.160
and their requests and the impact of their circumstances
00:28:32.160 --> 00:28:36.099
when you're talking to other people? If you're
00:28:36.099 --> 00:28:38.700
thinking of Joseph, you're wanting to encourage
00:28:38.700 --> 00:28:41.799
them through his life, what do you say in those
00:28:41.799 --> 00:28:44.000
circumstances? Because there's no question Joseph
00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:46.940
was true to the Lord. He certainly was praying
00:28:46.940 --> 00:28:49.359
for, get me out of prison, or he was praying,
00:28:49.539 --> 00:28:52.180
get me out of this hole. And his answer to the
00:28:52.180 --> 00:28:54.500
prayer is probably, I'm going to die here in
00:28:54.500 --> 00:28:56.700
this hole, Lord, get me out of this hole. He
00:28:56.700 --> 00:29:00.440
gets out of the hole and he gets sold. as a slave
00:29:00.440 --> 00:29:03.519
and goes to Europe and so i mean to egypt and
00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:06.240
so what do you say to people and how do you how
00:29:06.240 --> 00:29:09.839
can you use joseph's life the story of joseph's
00:29:09.839 --> 00:29:13.380
life in genesis to encourage people who are looking
00:29:13.380 --> 00:29:15.640
for answers in either getting the answers they
00:29:15.640 --> 00:29:19.119
don't want like in the case of paul or who is
00:29:19.119 --> 00:29:22.259
getting answers in the case of joseph being put
00:29:22.259 --> 00:29:25.440
in charge of potiphar's house and in front of
00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:28.880
pharaoh's. country like Hannah, what do you say
00:29:28.880 --> 00:29:32.259
to people on just the whole panoramic view of
00:29:32.259 --> 00:29:36.200
Joseph's life? Well, Joseph is an example of
00:29:36.200 --> 00:29:39.380
a person who's who can't do a lot to move towards
00:29:39.380 --> 00:29:41.599
the outcome of his prayers. Like when we talked
00:29:41.599 --> 00:29:43.279
about, you know, things you can do to help find
00:29:43.279 --> 00:29:45.740
a job and get healthier. There really wasn't
00:29:45.740 --> 00:29:47.940
anything Joseph could do to get himself out of
00:29:47.940 --> 00:29:49.720
the hole. And there wasn't anything he could
00:29:49.720 --> 00:29:52.740
do to move closer to an answer of getting out
00:29:52.740 --> 00:29:55.440
of prison. He could pray and pray and pray, but
00:29:55.440 --> 00:29:59.289
he had to depend solely on God to do all the
00:29:59.289 --> 00:30:02.509
workings behind the answer to those prayers.
00:30:02.869 --> 00:30:05.829
I think even though the answers often surprised
00:30:05.829 --> 00:30:08.529
Joseph and he didn't always get exactly what
00:30:08.529 --> 00:30:12.509
he wanted, that God used all those events to
00:30:12.509 --> 00:30:16.269
bring glory to the Lord and for Joseph's benefit.
00:30:16.690 --> 00:30:20.170
At the end of Joseph's story and the end of Genesis,
00:30:20.490 --> 00:30:24.130
he says to his brothers who had started this
00:30:24.130 --> 00:30:28.390
whole string of terrible events that what his
00:30:28.390 --> 00:30:32.049
brothers had intended for evil God used for good.
00:30:32.609 --> 00:30:35.630
And so I think we need to remember that too.
00:30:36.089 --> 00:30:38.269
There are situations that we find ourselves in
00:30:38.269 --> 00:30:42.329
that we pray about an outcome, we have absolutely
00:30:42.329 --> 00:30:45.170
no control over it. We just have to trust that
00:30:45.170 --> 00:30:47.990
God is sovereign. It's really hard sometimes,
00:30:48.190 --> 00:30:50.309
especially when the answer is no or when we're
00:30:50.309 --> 00:30:53.440
still waiting for an outcome, to try to have
00:30:53.440 --> 00:30:57.400
a perspective of life on this earth is a gift,
00:30:57.500 --> 00:31:00.579
but it's only temporary. There is an eternity
00:31:00.579 --> 00:31:04.059
waiting for us. If we can overcome and endure
00:31:04.059 --> 00:31:07.519
to the end and put our hope in Jesus, we will
00:31:07.519 --> 00:31:10.380
spend eternity in heaven. And so all the horrible
00:31:10.380 --> 00:31:13.200
stuff that happens here on earth is, it's small
00:31:13.200 --> 00:31:15.900
in comparison to the glory and the amazing things
00:31:15.900 --> 00:31:18.779
that await us in eternity. It's hard to have
00:31:18.779 --> 00:31:21.130
that perspective every day. Just to remember
00:31:21.130 --> 00:31:23.789
that God is with us even in those hard times.
00:31:24.130 --> 00:31:27.250
He walks through those valleys with us and we're
00:31:27.250 --> 00:31:30.589
never alone and he comforts us and he strengthens
00:31:30.589 --> 00:31:33.349
us and he's always with us. He encourages us
00:31:33.349 --> 00:31:37.269
to just keep on keeping on. He does and I think
00:31:37.269 --> 00:31:39.829
when we look at ourselves we think we're in control
00:31:39.829 --> 00:31:42.410
and we're not. We're put on this earth. That's
00:31:42.410 --> 00:31:44.569
the first thing that's out of our control and
00:31:44.569 --> 00:31:47.769
we're born into a family that's not in our control.
00:31:48.009 --> 00:31:51.690
and we grow up and we become adults and we have
00:31:51.690 --> 00:31:54.690
to live life and life's hard. But I find the
00:31:54.690 --> 00:31:59.250
thing about Joseph that is so rewarding for me
00:31:59.250 --> 00:32:03.789
in my own mindset. In some of his prayers, he
00:32:03.789 --> 00:32:06.130
certainly didn't get the outcome he was looking
00:32:06.130 --> 00:32:11.049
for, but he pressed on. He was in prison. He
00:32:11.049 --> 00:32:14.869
answers this guy, he through God, he gives glory
00:32:14.869 --> 00:32:20.440
to God and God answers. this dream of the cupbearer.
00:32:20.599 --> 00:32:22.900
And the cupbearer gets restored and off he goes
00:32:22.900 --> 00:32:26.339
to Pharaoh. You know that Joseph probably was
00:32:26.339 --> 00:32:28.799
praying. First off, he's probably elated the
00:32:28.799 --> 00:32:31.539
first week. Oh, great. You know, the cupbearer
00:32:31.539 --> 00:32:33.980
is there in front of Pharaoh talking about me
00:32:33.980 --> 00:32:36.779
and all that I did for him and how I answered
00:32:36.779 --> 00:32:40.660
this dream. And a month goes by and there's no
00:32:40.660 --> 00:32:44.819
answer. And six months go by and a year goes
00:32:44.819 --> 00:32:49.819
by. And yet what you don't see in this is that
00:32:49.819 --> 00:32:54.960
while the outcome that God gave Joseph in that
00:32:54.960 --> 00:32:58.259
scenario which was he prayed that he would be
00:32:58.259 --> 00:33:01.339
able to interpret the dream of the cup bearer
00:33:01.339 --> 00:33:05.240
and God gave him the interpretation that surely
00:33:05.240 --> 00:33:08.359
that has to lead to me being freed from prison
00:33:08.359 --> 00:33:12.579
and it does in the end two years later probably
00:33:12.859 --> 00:33:15.980
Joseph was thinking of, oh, great, I can get
00:33:15.980 --> 00:33:18.960
out of prison and just go live my life. And what
00:33:18.960 --> 00:33:22.740
God effected was, no, you're in prison for two
00:33:22.740 --> 00:33:26.420
more years. And when you come out, you have a
00:33:26.420 --> 00:33:29.819
direct audience with Pharaoh and you demonstrate
00:33:29.819 --> 00:33:32.940
who you are to Pharaoh. And in fact, at the time
00:33:32.940 --> 00:33:36.200
he interprets the dream of the seven years of
00:33:36.200 --> 00:33:39.480
great abundance and then the seven years of famine.
00:33:39.849 --> 00:33:43.869
Joseph doesn't then say, and I'm your guy. No,
00:33:44.309 --> 00:33:48.230
he says, you, Pharaoh, need to put the right
00:33:48.230 --> 00:33:52.710
person in charge who can then organize throughout
00:33:52.710 --> 00:33:57.329
your kingdom to take a portion of all your produce
00:33:57.329 --> 00:34:00.230
during the times of plenty so that we can be
00:34:00.230 --> 00:34:03.710
prepared for the time of famine. And Pharaoh
00:34:03.710 --> 00:34:06.809
says, you're the guy. So there Joseph didn't
00:34:06.809 --> 00:34:10.849
presume. So what am I saying? In my own life,
00:34:11.349 --> 00:34:14.869
all of my petitions that have been answered that
00:34:14.869 --> 00:34:18.349
haven't been answered the way I originally was
00:34:18.349 --> 00:34:21.929
requesting have always been answered in a way
00:34:21.929 --> 00:34:25.949
that had been infinitely better than my meager
00:34:25.949 --> 00:34:29.630
original request fathomed or what I originally
00:34:29.630 --> 00:34:34.170
thought I was asking for. My example is Joseph.
00:34:34.380 --> 00:34:36.860
saying, cup bearer, get me out of prisons, you
00:34:36.860 --> 00:34:38.940
know, tell Pharaoh so I can get out of prison.
00:34:39.139 --> 00:34:42.039
His thought process was probably just get me
00:34:42.039 --> 00:34:45.019
out of prison. That's a Bob Red thought process.
00:34:45.639 --> 00:34:48.619
But in reality, God wanted him to be in prison
00:34:48.619 --> 00:34:52.079
for another two years. And then when the right
00:34:52.079 --> 00:34:55.760
opportunity, this vision or dream of Pharaoh
00:34:55.760 --> 00:35:00.639
allowed Pharaoh to see the hand of God through
00:35:00.639 --> 00:35:05.000
Joseph. And that was immeasurably greater than
00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:08.760
what Joseph was requesting of God. And that's
00:35:08.760 --> 00:35:11.579
the example where when we don't have answered
00:35:11.579 --> 00:35:14.639
prayer, or when we get an answer to prayer that
00:35:14.639 --> 00:35:17.480
wasn't the answer we were looking for, as we
00:35:17.480 --> 00:35:20.860
look back on the panorama of the original request
00:35:20.860 --> 00:35:23.800
and what the outcome has been, we can see that
00:35:23.800 --> 00:35:27.860
our life is immeasurably better because of it,
00:35:27.940 --> 00:35:32.500
whatever that outcome is. That is peace and is
00:35:32.500 --> 00:35:36.039
a sense of living in that way, in the moments,
00:35:36.159 --> 00:35:39.380
the everyday moments, with that mindset that
00:35:39.380 --> 00:35:42.699
I'm trusting in the will of God. His providential
00:35:42.699 --> 00:35:46.820
hand is on my request, even though I don't have
00:35:46.820 --> 00:35:51.019
the outcome of it yet, or even though I won't
00:35:51.019 --> 00:35:54.099
have the outcome I'm looking for. He's at work.
00:35:54.340 --> 00:35:59.539
And if I truly trust in that, all of my circumstances
00:35:59.539 --> 00:36:03.719
become more peaceful and easier way for me to
00:36:03.719 --> 00:36:06.739
live. All right. Thanks for sharing that, Bob.
00:36:07.420 --> 00:36:09.460
Yeah. So this has been heavy on my heart and
00:36:09.460 --> 00:36:12.440
I hope help make a difference in maybe how you
00:36:12.440 --> 00:36:16.239
can look at prayer requests and how you can understand
00:36:16.239 --> 00:36:20.099
how we are to live our lives in the anticipation
00:36:20.099 --> 00:36:24.039
of God responding to our requests. With that,
00:36:24.559 --> 00:36:28.260
Anne, will you take us before the throne? Father,
00:36:28.320 --> 00:36:30.780
thank you for this time that we could talk together
00:36:30.780 --> 00:36:34.219
about prayer. We thank you for the Bible that
00:36:34.219 --> 00:36:37.739
has examples in it that we can learn from and
00:36:37.739 --> 00:36:40.559
be encouraged from. We thank you for Hannah and
00:36:40.559 --> 00:36:44.619
her. determination and her faithfulness to continue
00:36:44.619 --> 00:36:47.039
in prayer for her heart's desire. And we thank
00:36:47.039 --> 00:36:49.820
you for Paul, that even as he prayed and didn't
00:36:49.820 --> 00:36:51.679
get an answer that he wanted, that he continued
00:36:51.679 --> 00:36:53.980
to trust in you. And we thank you for Joseph
00:36:53.980 --> 00:36:56.460
and for his life and for the way that he honored
00:36:56.460 --> 00:37:00.679
you and trusted you and depended on you for the
00:37:00.679 --> 00:37:02.980
outcomes of his prayers. Lord, we just pray that
00:37:02.980 --> 00:37:07.329
you would help us all as we wrestle with difficult
00:37:07.329 --> 00:37:09.809
things that are going on in our lives, that we
00:37:09.809 --> 00:37:12.190
would remember that you're with us, that your
00:37:12.190 --> 00:37:14.889
grace is sufficient, that you are sovereign and
00:37:14.889 --> 00:37:17.150
in control, and that we can trust you for the
00:37:17.150 --> 00:37:19.449
outcomes of our prayers. Lord, we pray that we
00:37:19.449 --> 00:37:23.769
would not grow weary of doing good and of coming
00:37:23.769 --> 00:37:26.289
to you and spending time before your throne,
00:37:26.289 --> 00:37:30.030
that we would continue to bring our requests
00:37:30.030 --> 00:37:33.550
and our concerns to you and lay them at the cross
00:37:33.550 --> 00:37:36.760
and be willing to leave them there and to trust
00:37:36.760 --> 00:37:38.659
that you're going to work out a solution that's
00:37:38.659 --> 00:37:41.039
best. God, we thank you for your providence,
00:37:41.239 --> 00:37:43.619
for the way that you give us everything that
00:37:43.619 --> 00:37:47.199
we need. And we pray that we would remember that
00:37:47.199 --> 00:37:50.719
when we have Jesus, we really do have everything
00:37:50.719 --> 00:37:52.960
that we need. Sometimes it's hard to get caught
00:37:52.960 --> 00:37:55.019
up in the physical world and all the demands
00:37:55.019 --> 00:37:58.440
and things that our daily lives require of us.
00:37:58.440 --> 00:38:00.280
But we pray that you'd help us keep our eyes
00:38:00.280 --> 00:38:03.039
on you, set our minds on things above, and live
00:38:03.039 --> 00:38:06.110
with an eternity in mind. Thank you, God, for
00:38:06.110 --> 00:38:08.829
the way that you love us. We pray this in your
00:38:08.829 --> 00:38:15.130
name. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Anne. Well, there
00:38:15.130 --> 00:38:17.769
you have it. We've enjoyed our conversation today
00:38:17.769 --> 00:38:20.769
and hope that you feel more equipped to examine
00:38:20.769 --> 00:38:23.889
scripture to find what God has to say about the
00:38:23.889 --> 00:38:27.510
important circumstances you're facing in your
00:38:27.510 --> 00:38:30.750
life. Until next time, examine the scripture,
00:38:31.389 --> 00:38:33.949
drink from the word of life, and let the Bible
00:38:33.949 --> 00:38:34.969
feed your spirit.
