Music...
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Welcome to: The Sanctuary,
Salvation and our Savior,
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my name is David Shin
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and thank you
for joining us today
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in another
installment in our Series
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of the study of the sanctuary
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where we're looking at the
significance and the relevance
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of the sanctuary to our
practical Christian lives.
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I want to go to the screen here
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because the focus
of today's presentation
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is another article of
furniture in the sanctuary,
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it is the Altar of
Incense in the Holy Place.
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In the Holy Place, there
are three articles of furniture:
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The Table of Shewbread,
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the Candlesticks
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and the Altar of Incense.
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In a brief review from
our earlier presentations,
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we noted that the
sanctuary is a model
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of God's plan of
restoration to bring us back
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to that relationship with Him.
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Adam and Eve... before the fall,
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were in the
Most-Holy-Place experience,
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they were in an intimate
face-to-face encounter with God.
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They could have a conversation
with God as with a friend
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but because of sin, this
relational dynamic changed
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and the entire human race was
placed outside of the sanctuary
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and God's plan is a
plan of restoration...
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it's a plan to bring us back...
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to bring us
into the Courtyard...
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into the Holy Place
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and into the
Most-Holy-Place Experience.
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The sanctuary is a
model in Kindergarten form...
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illustrating how
God will restore Eden
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back to the place that it
was as in the book of Genesis.
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So, you have the book of
Genesis where Eden is lost...
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you have the book of Revelation
where Eden is restored.
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So, God brings us
into the Courtyard
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and as we noted,
the Courtyard experience
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is where we
receive the gift of God...
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the gift of
justification by faith.
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We accept Jesus as our
Savior and then we are baptized
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and we can have the assurance
of salvation in the Courtyard
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and then God says, "I
want you to walk with me,
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I want you to grow with me,
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I want you to journey with me
into the Holy-Place experience
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and as we noted in
an earlier presentation,
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it's not about how far you get,
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it's about being
in the process...
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being in the journey...
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He brings us to the Table
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and gives us our
spiritual nourishment.
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He gives us what we
need to grow in grace
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and in the knowledge of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
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He brings us to the table.
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Jesus said, "I am
the bread of life... "
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we feed on the Word of God
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and then we come to
the Altar of Incense
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and there are three
elements that are essential
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for healthy Christian experience
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after we have been made alive,
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we stay alive by these
three important entities
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represented in the
Holy-Place Experience.
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We have the Table of Shewbread,
we have the Altar of Incense
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and the candlesticks...
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the Table of Shewbread
represents Bible Study,
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the Altar of Incense
represents our prayer life
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and candlesticks
represent our witness
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and the sharing of the
love of God with others.
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Now, this
experience is not meritorious,
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in other words, I
don't study my Bible
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in order to earn my salvation,
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I don't spend time in prayer in
order to earn my way to heaven,
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or I don't witness
to get points with God
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that is
meritorious towards salvation,
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no, these are all grace
elements that God has provided
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and made provision for us
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to grow in our
spiritual experience with Him.
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Now, here's a tip...
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and I want to
mention this again,
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because if you are noticing
in your Christian experience,
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after you've accepted Jesus,
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that you're growing weak...
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that you've lost
your first love...
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you can do a very quick
diagnostic... a quick assessment
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and ask yourself the question,
"How's my prayer life?"
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"How's my Bible Study?"
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"Am I sharing my faith?"
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and what you'll usually find
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is at least in one of
those areas... if not more...
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you have begun to wane
in one of those elements
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and what you can do is say,
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"Lord, create in me a
deeper desire for you. "
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You can ask God and say,
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"Lord, help me to desire
to spend time in prayer...
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help me to desire to
spend time in your Word
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and help me to desire to
share my faith with others
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and give me that opportunity. "
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In other words, we
don't have to fabricate
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this element of trying
to... to manifest these...
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these elements of the Christian,
ah, Christian disciplines
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as something that we need to do
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by pulling ourselves
by our own bootstraps,
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God has given us everything
including the desire to desire
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to have Bible-Study time,
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to pray and to share our faith.
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We're focusing on
the Altar of Incense
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and the Altar of Incense
represents our prayer life
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mingled with the
righteousness of Jesus Christ.
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In Psalm 141
verse 2, the Bible says,
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"And let my prayer
be set forth as incense
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and the lifting up of my hands
as the evening sacrifice. "
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Here the Psalmist says,
"Let my prayer be as incense
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and as we pray in the name
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and in the
righteousness of Jesus Christ,
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our prayers are
acceptable to God.
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We pray to the
Father in the name of Jesus
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and it doesn't matter how long
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we may or may not
have been a Christian,
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we never come to
God in our own name...
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in our own merits...
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in our own works.
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We come to God
because of the merits
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and the blood of Jesus Christ
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and mingled with the sweet aroma
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of Christ's righteousness,
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our prayers ascend
like incense to God.
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We never come to God
because of our own works,
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and the Holy-Place experience
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specifically the
incense is a reminder
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that it doesn't matter
how much you may have grown
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as a Christian,
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you may have come
far in your journey,
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but you can never come
to the place where you say,
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"I've arrived... and I
come to God in my own name. "
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No, no, no, you always
come in the sweet aroma
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in the incense of the
name and the righteousness
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of Jesus Christ
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and that's why
it's sweet to God...
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it's not sweet to God
because of my own works
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and my own merits,
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it's sweet to God because
of the righteousness of Christ.
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A sweet aroma to the Lord.
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We're told that...
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that prayer is the
breath of the soul...
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the secret of spiritual power.
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Now, think about the
implications of this metaphor.
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Prayer is the
breath of the soul.
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In other words, the same
way that we are dependent
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on breathing physically,
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is the same way
that we are dependent
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on prayer spiritually.
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We need to pray as just
as much as we need to breath.
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Now, think about the
implications of this,
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you can go weeks without food,
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you can go for a
period of days without water,
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but you can go only
minutes without breathing.
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Now, in my early
adolescent years,
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I... I had this
ailment of asthma
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and I would struggle to breath
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when I would have
these asthma attacks,
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it was a terrible thing.
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One time, I had an asthma attack
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that lasted a whole week,
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can you imagine, a whole week
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where I'm just wheezing
and struggling for every breath
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and every time I
would... huuuuuuhhhh...
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try to get all my energies
to get this breath into my body
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just straining...
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it made me realize how dependent
I am as a human being on air
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and my fear is that in
our Christian experience
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after we have been born again,
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after we've
praised God and said,
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"Oh, I've accepted Jesus
as my Savior and Lord... "
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and we come to Him
just the way we are,
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we're baptized... and
afterwards we hold our breaths.
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We don't breath
anymore after birth,
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Now, I remember distinctly
the moment that my son was born,
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praise God...
successful birth...
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he... he came out
and your first concern
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after birth is
that first breath.
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Not only in that first breath
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but that... that
baby continues to breath.
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My son was born into this world
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and he took that
breath... ahuuuhhh...
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and I just shudder to think
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if my son would not
have taken his first breath
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after a successful birth.
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In other words, Friends,
it's one thing to be born
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and birth is essential...
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if there is no
birth, there is no life
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but breathing after birth
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is as essential as being born.
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In other words, you can
be born again as a Christian,
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but if you're not breathing...
if you are not praying...
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as prayer is the
breath of the soul,
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the secret of spiritual power,
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it's like holding
your breath after birth.
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prayer is the
breath of the soul,
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we are dependent
on prayer just as much
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as we are dependent on air.
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How's your prayer life today?
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How is your breathing today?
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Spiritually, God
is calling us to pray
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and here in the
book, "Steps to Christ"
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one of my favorite
books and by the way,
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if you have not read
the book, "Steps to Christ"
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I highly encourage
you to read this book.
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There's a whole
chapter here on prayer
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and it says,
"Prayer is talking to God
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as to a friend. "
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In other words, prayer is
not like this formal exercise,
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now, there's a
time for formal prayer
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like in the worship service,
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but prayer is not to be this
formal conversation with God,
00:11:07.80\00:11:13.03
prayer is to be
like a talking...
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a conversation with
your most intimate friend...
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your most intimate
person in the world.
00:11:19.87\00:11:23.14
Now, when I talk to my parents,
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I don't go to my
dad and mom and say,
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"Oh thou that
providest for my food...
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thou that bore me
into this world...
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thou that
providest my education. "
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My parents would be like,
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"What's the
matter with you, son?
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This is Mom and Dad. "
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Now, this is not to say
that we should be disrespectful
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in our prayer life,
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but we should be vulnerable...
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we should be authentic...
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we should be real
in our prayer life.
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Prayer is talking
to God as to a friend.
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Your most
intimate conversations...
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the bearing of your soul to
God should be your prayer life.
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You should tell God
everything that is on your heart
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and on your mind.
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It is the epitome...
the quintessential example
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of what intimacy and connection
with another being should be
00:12:13.53\00:12:19.27
and that is your prayer life...
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talking to God as to a friend.
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not a formal, sterile exercise
where you're fake and not real,
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and not showing a
person your real needs.
00:12:28.38\00:12:30.55
If you talk to a
person on the street and say,
00:12:30.58\00:12:32.45
"What's it like?"
00:12:32.48\00:12:33.95
And he'll say,
"How are you doing?"
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"Fine... "
00:12:35.42\00:12:36.82
"Beautiful day isn't
it? Wonderful weather... "
00:12:36.85\00:12:39.55
it's all superficial
00:12:39.59\00:12:40.92
but there was
intimate people in our lives...
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you ask them...
or they ask you...
00:12:43.59\00:12:48.06
"How are you doing?"
00:12:48.10\00:12:49.43
And they tell you...
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or you tell them...
"I'm not doing well at all,
00:12:50.83\00:12:54.44
terrible, as a matter of fact,
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I've really been
struggling today. "
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And this is what
our prayer life can be.
00:12:59.51\00:13:02.88
You can go to God and say,
"Lord, I'm struggling today,
00:13:02.91\00:13:07.15
I'm having a hard time...
00:13:07.18\00:13:09.38
as a matter of
fact, Lord, ah hmmm...
00:13:09.42\00:13:13.02
I don't even want to pray today,
00:13:13.05\00:13:16.16
I'm struggling
with my Bible Study,
00:13:16.19\00:13:18.49
I'm struggling
with sharing my faith,
00:13:18.53\00:13:20.80
this is who I am... help me...
00:13:20.83\00:13:23.57
help me to be
willing to be made willing.
00:13:23.63\00:13:26.67
Give me the desire to desire. "
00:13:26.70\00:13:30.11
You can come to
God in your prayer life
00:13:30.14\00:13:32.54
as who you really are,
00:13:32.57\00:13:35.34
and it's the
safest place you can be
00:13:35.41\00:13:37.41
because God will
never reject your prayers.
00:13:37.45\00:13:41.55
I want to encourage you
as we continue in our study
00:13:41.58\00:13:45.85
to... to reflect on how prayer
is the breath of the soul...
00:13:45.89\00:13:50.03
the secret of spiritual power.
00:13:50.06\00:13:51.43
We're going to
take a short break,
00:13:51.46\00:13:52.79
we'll be right back,
00:13:52.83\00:13:54.16
stay with us as
we continue our study
00:13:54.20\00:13:56.00
on prayer.
00:13:56.03\00:13:57.37