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The Protection of Prayer

Dr. Tony Evans

November 22, 2020

27:29

Dr. Tony Evans is known as a relevant expositor and is a pastor of pastors and a father in the faith.

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The Protection of Prayer

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♪♪♪
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Tony Evans: You only haveone source.
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You've got a lot of resources,a lot of mechanisms
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that God can use to bringhis provision to you,
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but you only have one source.
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Don't ever let a resource becomea source because it can't be.
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When God is your only source,he is the one you look to
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for your provision.
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Always look to him,and then give thanks
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because you know somebodywho's able to meet you
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at every level of need,and that is your great God
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who cares about you.
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Remember, when you seekfirst his kingdom
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and his righteousness,because he already knows
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what you need, he can cover youat every point of your life.
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Tony: "Lead us notinto temptation,
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but deliver us from evil."
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This line in the Lord's Prayeris a request for protection.
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It is a request for Godto protect you.
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To understand that,you must understand that
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when the devil brought sininto the world,
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he not only affected people,
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he infected and affectedthe systems of this world.
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So you and I need to beprotected from every kind
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of influence that the devil hasin every system
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to which he is associated,
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and he is associatedwith every system that exists.
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So the prayer request is thatwe will be protected
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from the evil one and not ledinto anything that would keep us
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from experiencing whatwe have prayed thus far.
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If he leads us into temptationso that we adopt evil,
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we do not qualifyto hallow his name.
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We will be unable to servicehis kingdom.
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We will refuse to submitto his will,
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which will interruptour provision and dumb down
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the opportunity for forgiveness.
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And so, he is asking that we beprotected from the evil one.
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Let me put it another way.
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Satan's goal is to break us upfrom fellowship with God,
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because if he can accomplishthat he can mess up
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everything else.
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He says, "Lead us notinto temptation."
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Now, the concept of temptationin Scripture can be
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positive or negative.
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When we try to makethe distinction,
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we use the word "trials"to describe positive,
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and we use the word "temptation"and generally we mean
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something negative.
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But it can be used either wayand the context will tell you
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which way it's being used.
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We know it's being usednegatively here
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because he's askingfor deliverance
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from the evil one.
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But why would you haveto ask God to lead you not
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into temptation?
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James 1:13 says, "God does nottempt any man,"
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but here you're making a requestfor God to not lead you
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into a temptation,so let's go a little deeper.
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What God leads youinto are trials.
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Trials areadverse circumstances,
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negative things that happen,that are designed
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to develop you spiritually.
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A trial is a negative eventthat God causes or God allows,
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but every trial is onlyfor one purpose, and that is
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to grow you spiritually,to mature you spiritually,
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to drive you to Godat another level,
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and to take you to the nextspiritual place God has for you.
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When God brings an issuein your life,
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not a sin you're committingbut a circumstance
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that is not in your favor,you are to view it as a trial.
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You are to not mistake the handof God for the hand of man.
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In other words, don't just thinkit's the people,
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it's the situation,it's the circumstance.
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If God let it go from his heart,through his fingers,
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into your life, you view itas a trial.
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Satan doesn't want youto look at it as a trial
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because then you'll missthe developmental purpose
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of God allowing itto happen.
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The Bible is clearin Isaiah 38, verse 17,
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"Your afflictions arefor your good."
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1 Peter 1, verses 6 and 7,"In a trial,
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God is calling your faithto the witness stand."
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So a trial is designedto develop you.
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Now, a temptation by the devilis designed to defeat you.
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God has designed the negativeexperience to develop you.
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Satan brings temptation in orderto defeat you spiritually
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and separate you--you'll seewhat I mean in a moment--
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further from God.
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Now, here is the problem.
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Trials and temptations oftenhappen around the same event.
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In other words,most of the things we deal with
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is not a trial over hereand a temptation over there.
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Now, we know certain things,you know,
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they're just so obviousthat they're temptations,
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but what Satan does is,he piggybacks on a trial to try
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to turn it into a temptation.
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So he will take somethingthat God makes legitimate,
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mix with it, messes with it,to turn a trial that God wanted
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to develop us into a temptationin order to defeat us.
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So you say, "Well, I don't knowwhether this is a trial
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or a temptation."
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Assume it's bothbecause God will often use
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the devil for a trial.
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And when God usesthe devil for a trial,
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the devil takes God's use of himfor a trial to try to use it
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for himself for a temptation.
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Matthew chapter 4, verse 1,"The Spirit of the Lord
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led Jesus into the wildernessto be tempted by the devil."
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The Spirit of the Lordled the Son of God
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into the dry place of testingin order for the devil
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to tempt him.
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So God put Jesusin Satan's territory
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for Satan to mess with Jesus.
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God's goal was to show Jesuspassing the test.
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Satan's goal was to make Jesusfail the test.
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But it was the same test atthe same time in the same place,
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okay?
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Job chapter 1, Satan said,
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"The only reason Job serves youis 'cause you give him stuff.
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You take away his stuff andI'll be you he will curse you."
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God says, "I'm gonna let youtest him."
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But Satan tempted him.
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He tempted him to curse God.
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Job was being tested by God,"Are you gonna praise me
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when things aren't going well?
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Are you gonna praise mewhen things are going left
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or are you going to let my testthat I allowed Satan to tempt
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cause you to curse me?"
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So when life hits you andyou're being tested and tempted,
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the question is,which way are you gonna go?
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Are you gonna go with God asa test or with Satan as a tempt?
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Because they often both happenat the same time.
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So then, what God is afteris seeing in a test
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how serious your commitment is,and to, when you pass the test,
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take youto the next spiritual level.
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Satan simultaneously will usethat or something else
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in order to drive a web--a wedge between us
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and the Lord so thatwe do not have the full presence
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and power of him with us.
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So yes, I hate to tell you this,but God does use the devil
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to grow you.
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God does use the devilto grow you.
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You remember Peter?
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The Bible says in Luke 22,Jesus said to Peter,
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"Satan has asked us.
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Satan came to us and asked usto allow him to sift you
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like wheat."
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Peter said,
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"Well, that's not gonna happento me 'cause I'm your main man."
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He says, "Everybody elsewill walk away from you,
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but not me."
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Jesus said,"Before the cock crows,
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you will deny me three times.
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You are not all thatand a bag of chips.
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So I am going to allow Satanto break you down
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so that I can raise you up,because until I break you,
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I can't make you.
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So I'm going to let the devildo my dirty work."
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So sometimes you will say,
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"Why is the devildoing this to me?"
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It may be becauseGod has invited him to,
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or at least allowed him to,because he will test,
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even using the devil, who will--and simultaneously tempt.
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And the question you stand on iswhich way are you going to go.
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Are you going to follow Godwhen it doesn't make sense,
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when you don't like it?
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That was Job's choice andJob had to make the decision.
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He said, "Shall I receive goodfrom the Lord and praise him
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only during the good times,and not negative
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from the Lord and not praise himduring the negative times?"
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And so he says, "Lead us notinto any situation
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we can't handle."
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That's what, "Lead us notinto temptation," means.
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Don't put me--don't give me a trial
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where I will be overrunby a temptation.
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Or if I've already been beat upby the devil,
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if I'm already defeated by him,"Deliver us from evil."
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So the first part is,"Keep me from getting into
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a situation I can't handle,"and then second part is,
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"If I've already gotten intoa situation I can't handle,
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get me out of this situationthat I can't handle.
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Deliver me from evil."
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That is, from the evil one.
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Well, now that means we needto learn how temptation works.
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How does it work?
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James chapter 1, verses 14to 15 lays it out.
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He says,"But each one is tempted
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when he is carried awayand enticed by his own lust.
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Then when lust has conceived,it gives birth to sin.
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And when sin is accomplished,it brings forth death."
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In those two verses,
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he gives you the patternof temptation.
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The pattern of temptationalways starts with desire,
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enticed by his lust.
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The word "lust" means desire.
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What Satan does is he createsa craving for something
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outside of the will of God.
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He wants you to want it.
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In Adam and Eve in the Garden,he told them--God told them,
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"Don't eat of the fruitin the midst of the garden."
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But when Satan talked to Eve,it said,
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"When she saw I was delightful,and desirable,
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and was able to make one wise,she ate it,"
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because he created desire.
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You have been assigned a demon.
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They know how you move,what you like,
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what you are geared to,what you are desirous of.
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They know what you are thinkingand how you operate,
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so they know the precise timeto bring that thing,
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that situation, that person,that problem
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into you to create a desire.
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Now, what we do is--what we dois we dumb down how bad it is,
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and so he starts offwith desire designed to entice.
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Satan always has a hooktied to the delicious thing
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he happens to be offering you.
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But Satan is not gonna show youthe hook.
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He's just gonna show youhow well it tastes
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until he gets you hooked.
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And when he gets you hooked,he reels you in
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in order to slice you up.
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But he has to make it look goodon the front end.
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Please notice something.
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In verse 15,"When lust has conceived,
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it gives birth to sin."
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So he talks about a pregnancy,conceiving.
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Notice, he didn't callthe desire "sin."
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He called when it conceives,it becomes sin.
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Okay, so let me help makeyou feel just a little better.
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The fact that your fleshwants to sin
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is not the problem becausethat's what the flesh does.
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You can't--you cannot stopthe flesh
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from wanting to be fleshly.
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He calls the decisionto act on it the problem.
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So in one sense,you can feel a little better
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about the fact that your fleshcan never become unfleshly.
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It can never become unfleshlybecause it's been trained
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that way.
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And to varying degreesas you grow,
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it loses its dominance butit never stops being the flesh.
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But when you act on it--wanting chocolate cake
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is not the problem.
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You don't gain weightfrom wanting chocolate cake.
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You gain weight from eatingchocolate cake.
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When the flesh wants to sin,it's because that's what
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the flesh wants to do.
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But when you make the decisionto act on it,
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he says that iswhen it's conceived.
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No woman gets pregnantwith an egg alone.
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There's got to be a conceivingthat takes place
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for it to birth into something.
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And then he says, when Satanhas accomplished his goal
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and temptation,you're gonna have a baby.
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And he gives the baby his name:death.
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Sin brings forth death--let meexplain this--all the time.
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There are no exceptions to this.
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But when he says "death,"he's not talking
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about being in a coffin.
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When Adam and Eve sinned,they didn't drop dead.
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They lived for many,many years after that.
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What happenedwhen they sinned was
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they were put outof God's presence.
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They were removedfrom the Garden.
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So the word "death" in the Bibledoes not mean nonexistence.
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It means separation.
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So when Satan can tempt usto sin,
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he then separates us from God.
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And when we get separated,even as Christians, from God,
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there is no power in our life,
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there is no victory in our life,there is no deliverance
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in our life, there's no answeredprayers in our life
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because God is offin the distance
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because he can't fellowshipwith us in our sin.
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That raises a question.
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Here it is.
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Okay, what do I do?
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The prayer is, you pray,
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"Lead me not into anythingI can't handle."
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You don't give sin the attentionthat it asks for, okay?
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Chapter 1 of James,he says in verse 16,
00:17:16.018 --> 00:17:20.189
"Do not be deceived,my beloved brethren."
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So he's talking to Christians,"My beloved brethren."
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This is for Christians.
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"Every good thing givenand every perfect gift is
00:17:27.596 --> 00:17:31.633
from above, coming downfrom the Father of light,
00:17:31.667 --> 00:17:35.337
with whom there is novariation or shifting shadow.
00:17:35.370 --> 00:17:39.341
In the exercise of his will,he brought us forth
00:17:39.374 --> 00:17:43.612
by the Word of truthso that we would be
00:17:43.645 --> 00:17:47.416
a kind of first fruitsamong his creatures."
00:17:47.449 --> 00:17:53.722
He's gonna say four thingsand they all revolve
00:17:53.755 --> 00:17:58.927
around one word, "focus."
00:17:58.961 --> 00:18:03.799
You must change your focus.
00:18:03.832 --> 00:18:07.803
What you are focusing on willdetermine what will control you.
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Focus.
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He says focus on four things.
00:18:16.812 --> 00:18:19.448
Number one,focus on the goodness of God.
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"Every good and perfect giftcometh from above."
00:18:24.286 --> 00:18:29.925
When you see sin or the deviltrying to tempt you to sin
00:18:29.958 --> 00:18:36.431
or you're caught in sin,he says recognize it,
00:18:36.465 --> 00:18:40.402
but that's not where you putyour focus.
00:18:40.435 --> 00:18:43.238
We want you to put your focuson how good God has been to you.
00:18:43.272 --> 00:18:50.712
How do you focuson the goodness of God?
00:18:50.746 --> 00:18:53.115
You enter into a timeof thanksgiving.
00:18:53.148 --> 00:18:55.450
Lord, I wanna thank youthat you did this.
00:18:55.484 --> 00:18:57.152
Thank you that whenI was almost killed,
00:18:57.186 --> 00:18:59.054
you saved my life back there.
00:18:59.087 --> 00:19:00.722
Thank you for this.Thank you for that.
00:19:00.756 --> 00:19:02.624
I wanna thank you for your--yeah, I got this sin problem.
00:19:02.658 --> 00:19:05.594
I got this Satan problem.
00:19:05.627 --> 00:19:07.329
But I'm gonna look at Godand I just wanna enter
00:19:07.362 --> 00:19:09.298
into a season of thanksgivingon the goodness of God.
00:19:09.331 --> 00:19:14.169
Number two, focuson the faithfulness of God.
00:19:14.203 --> 00:19:19.508
He said, "Because in Godthere is no shifting shadow,"
00:19:19.541 --> 00:19:25.347
or as he puts it in the verse,he says, "The Father of light,
00:19:25.380 --> 00:19:31.486
with whom there is no variationor shifting shadow."
00:19:31.520 --> 00:19:35.958
Okay, let's talk about light.
00:19:35.991 --> 00:19:38.560
There has never been a timewhere the sun has not
00:19:38.594 --> 00:19:43.265
and does not shine,so the sun is consistent.
00:19:43.298 --> 00:19:48.537
It's the turning of the earththat produces the shadow.
00:19:48.570 --> 00:19:53.242
He says if you're gonnahave victory,
00:19:53.275 --> 00:19:55.310
you must focus on the Godwho does not move,
00:19:55.344 --> 00:19:59.581
not the circumstancesthat are always moving.
00:19:59.615 --> 00:20:03.952
You can't skip whatyou're dealing with,
00:20:03.986 --> 00:20:06.054
but focus on the sunlightso you're not controlled
00:20:06.088 --> 00:20:08.690
by nighttime.
00:20:08.724 --> 00:20:10.192
1 Corinthians chapter 10,verse 13, it says,
00:20:10.225 --> 00:20:14.296
"And God is faithfulwho will not allow you
00:20:14.329 --> 00:20:18.333
to be temptedbeyond what you are able,
00:20:18.367 --> 00:20:21.803
but will with the temptationprovide you a way of escape."
00:20:21.837 --> 00:20:26.875
He says here's howthe faithfulness of God works
00:20:26.908 --> 00:20:29.745
when you're being drawnby Satan into sin,
00:20:29.778 --> 00:20:33.982
or even when God is allowing youto deal with a trial.
00:20:34.016 --> 00:20:38.287
Number one, he will controlhow long it lasts
00:20:38.320 --> 00:20:42.691
and how deep it goes,'cause he will not allow you
00:20:42.724 --> 00:20:46.395
to be temptedabove what you're able.
00:20:46.428 --> 00:20:49.331
So if you're in a trial,or in this case
00:20:49.364 --> 00:20:51.700
you're under an attack,you can assume something,
00:20:51.733 --> 00:20:54.770
that the devil is not"the devil," he's God's devil.
00:20:54.803 --> 00:20:58.507
And God got a leash on himand he's only gonna let him
00:20:58.540 --> 00:21:01.576
go so far.
00:21:01.610 --> 00:21:03.178
And whatever he's allowing,you can handle
00:21:03.211 --> 00:21:07.149
'cause he promisedhe's so faithful
00:21:07.182 --> 00:21:09.318
he won't give youwhat you can't handle.
00:21:09.351 --> 00:21:12.387
He saysand when he gives it to you,
00:21:12.421 --> 00:21:14.856
he says, "God is faithfuland in his faithfulness
00:21:14.890 --> 00:21:18.160
he will not give you,but will with the temptation
00:21:18.193 --> 00:21:22.297
give you the way of escape."
00:21:22.331 --> 00:21:24.099
I don't know if you justheard that.
00:21:24.132 --> 00:21:25.867
God has got a solution buthe's not gonna let you see it
00:21:25.901 --> 00:21:29.638
until you pass the test,
00:21:29.671 --> 00:21:32.107
until God sees youtell the devil no,
00:21:32.140 --> 00:21:34.943
until God seesthat you focus on him.
00:21:34.976 --> 00:21:38.246
But he will already havethe exit sign
00:21:38.280 --> 00:21:41.616
at the very same timeas the temptation.
00:21:41.650 --> 00:21:45.053
And when he does it, he says,
00:21:45.087 --> 00:21:47.322
"He will give itat the very same time,"
00:21:47.356 --> 00:21:50.092
watch this, "so that you're ableto endure it."
00:21:50.125 --> 00:21:54.563
Now watch this.
00:21:54.596 --> 00:21:56.031
The only way to finish a testor to get victory
00:21:56.064 --> 00:22:00.102
in a temptation, he says,is you must go through it.
00:22:00.135 --> 00:22:04.840
You can't get from where you areto where God wants you
00:22:04.873 --> 00:22:09.211
without going throughthe development.
00:22:09.244 --> 00:22:12.347
The third thing, you focuson his goodness,
00:22:12.381 --> 00:22:15.250
you focus on his faithfulness,then he says you focus
00:22:15.283 --> 00:22:18.086
on his Word.
00:22:18.120 --> 00:22:20.956
Verse 18, "In the exerciseof his will,
00:22:20.989 --> 00:22:24.092
he brought us forthby the Word of truth."
00:22:24.126 --> 00:22:27.562
You focus on what God says,not how you feel.
00:22:27.596 --> 00:22:31.032
You focus on what God says,not how you think.
00:22:31.066 --> 00:22:33.769
You focus on what God says,
00:22:33.802 --> 00:22:35.203
not what everybodyelse has to say.
00:22:35.237 --> 00:22:37.506
You go back, "Yeah,this is what I feel, but God,
00:22:37.539 --> 00:22:39.908
this is what you say.
00:22:39.941 --> 00:22:41.410
This is what I want,but this is what you say."
00:22:41.443 --> 00:22:43.478
And if you praise his goodness,trust his faithfulness,
00:22:43.512 --> 00:22:46.248
and quote his Wordlike Jesus did,
00:22:46.281 --> 00:22:49.084
Jesus didn't go back,"Well, you know, devil,
00:22:49.117 --> 00:22:50.952
I was here before you."
00:22:50.986 --> 00:22:52.454
No, he said, "It is written:
00:22:52.487 --> 00:22:54.456
'Man shall not liveby bread alone,
00:22:54.489 --> 00:22:56.191
but by every Word that proceedsout of the mouth of God.'
00:22:56.224 --> 00:22:58.794
It is written: 'He will callhis angels.'
00:22:58.827 --> 00:23:01.263
It is written:
00:23:01.296 --> 00:23:02.631
'You shall serve the Lordthey God and worship him only."
00:23:02.664 --> 00:23:05.333
It's written, it's written,it's written.
00:23:05.367 --> 00:23:07.002
Why must you keep quotingthe Word of God
00:23:07.035 --> 00:23:09.438
when you're being tempted?
00:23:09.471 --> 00:23:10.839
Because the devil is allergicto Scripture.
00:23:10.872 --> 00:23:13.975
When he hears Scripture,he goes, "Ahh-choo!
00:23:14.009 --> 00:23:16.578
Ahh-choo!Ahh-choo!"
00:23:16.611 --> 00:23:19.614
He can't handle Scripture.
00:23:19.648 --> 00:23:22.684
He loves to hear what you think.
00:23:22.717 --> 00:23:24.853
He loves to hear how you feel.
00:23:24.886 --> 00:23:26.888
But when you start quotingthe Word to him, three strikes,
00:23:26.922 --> 00:23:30.225
you're out of here.
00:23:30.258 --> 00:23:33.895
And finally, the fourth thing,you focus on his perspective.
00:23:33.929 --> 00:23:39.067
Look at the end of that verse.
00:23:39.100 --> 00:23:41.236
I don't want you to miss this.
00:23:41.269 --> 00:23:43.672
His perspective.
00:23:43.705 --> 00:23:45.040
He says, "So that," verse 18,
00:23:45.073 --> 00:23:49.044
"We would be a kind of firstfruits among his creatures."
00:23:49.077 --> 00:23:53.882
Oh, first fruits, we normallytalk about first fruits
00:23:53.915 --> 00:23:58.086
for giving, giving your tithe,your first fruits,
00:23:58.119 --> 00:24:00.722
but he's not talkingabout money here.
00:24:00.755 --> 00:24:02.757
He says you arethe first fruits.
00:24:02.791 --> 00:24:05.560
The first fruit was the creamof the crop.
00:24:05.594 --> 00:24:08.497
It's what you offer God firstbecause it was viewed
00:24:08.530 --> 00:24:11.600
as the most precious.
00:24:11.633 --> 00:24:13.335
It was being--it washonoring God to give God first.
00:24:13.368 --> 00:24:16.404
It gives him honor.
00:24:16.438 --> 00:24:18.473
So he says--he says thatyou are first fruits.
00:24:18.507 --> 00:24:23.512
In other words,don't let the devil dial back
00:24:23.545 --> 00:24:27.249
your dignity.
00:24:27.282 --> 00:24:29.317
You're not just one of--you're not just another man,
00:24:29.351 --> 00:24:32.621
or another woman,or another boy or girl,
00:24:32.654 --> 00:24:34.923
you're first fruits.
00:24:34.956 --> 00:24:36.958
So I'm here to tell you todaythat God is a delivering God.
00:24:36.992 --> 00:24:40.695
Psalm chapter 50,verse 15 says he delivers.
00:24:40.729 --> 00:24:44.432
Psalm 107, verses 1 to 32 sayshe's a God who delivers.
00:24:44.466 --> 00:24:49.604
Psalm 91, verses 14 and 15 sayshe's a God who can deliver you.
00:24:49.638 --> 00:24:54.809
2 Timothy chapter 4,verses 17 and 18,
00:24:54.843 --> 00:24:58.513
Paul says, "I'm lookingfor God to deliver me."
00:24:58.547 --> 00:25:01.116
He can deliver youfrom circumstances, situations,
00:25:01.149 --> 00:25:04.252
people, and the devil.
00:25:04.286 --> 00:25:06.454
♪♪♪
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♪♪♪
00:25:16.631 --> 00:25:18.934
Tony: In a world of chaosand confusion,
00:25:18.967 --> 00:25:21.636
uncertainty anddiscombobulation,
00:25:21.670 --> 00:25:28.109
prayer just can't bean addendum.
00:25:28.143 --> 00:25:30.612
It can't just be a go-to whenI've tried everything else.
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It's gotta be puton the front end, why?
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Because we need Godon the front end.
00:25:39.487 --> 00:25:42.290
We don't just want him thereas an emergency stopgap.
00:25:42.324 --> 00:25:47.662
We need him to guide us,to lead us, to direct us,
00:25:47.696 --> 00:25:53.835
to clarify for us,because if God doesn't work
00:25:53.868 --> 00:25:59.608
in our circumstances personallyand collectively,
00:25:59.641 --> 00:26:03.745
then we won't be ableto fix them.
00:26:03.778 --> 00:26:07.415
And yes, God does allow thingsto get out of hand so that
00:26:07.449 --> 00:26:11.553
we discover that without him,we truly can do nothing.
00:26:11.586 --> 00:26:17.692
So let's not just praybecause we're supposed to,
00:26:17.726 --> 00:26:21.529
let's pray first becausewe absolutely have to.
00:26:21.563 --> 00:26:26.434
♪♪♪
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♪♪♪
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♪♪♪
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♪♪♪
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♪♪♪
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♪♪♪
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♪♪♪
00:27:26.961 --> 00:27:30.000

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The Protection of Prayer

The Protection of Prayer

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The Protection of Prayer

The Protection of Prayer

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