Hello, and welcome
to The Missing Peace.
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A program that's committed
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to making your
prayer life go wow.
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My name is Jason Bradley,
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and our primary
host for this program
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is Dr. Nadine Joseph Collins.
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Dr. Nadine, let's invite
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the presence of the
Lord into this program.
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Dear heavenly Father,
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we thank You for the opportunity
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to talk about prayer
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and how
important and vital it is
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to communicate with You
and to commune with You.
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Lord, we know
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that nobody
knows better than You
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as to how to go about this,
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so we invite the Holy
Spirit to be among us,
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to lead, and guide, and direct
this conversation on prayering,
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in Jesus' name we pray.
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Amen.
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Let me share a
little bit about our host.
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Dr. Nadine Joseph Collins hails
from the Island of Saint Lucia.
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She has been empowering
the prayer lives of others
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in the Caribbean,
Asia, Canada, the UK,
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and right here in the US
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as a presenter on prayer
for women's ministries weekends
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and women's days of prayer.
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She is an author, speaker,
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and has a full
time ministry alongside
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of her husband Nyse Collins.
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You have been making
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some excellent points on prayer.
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What's our topic for today?
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First, let me
ask you a question.
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Have you ever
tried to do something
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you were not good at
naturally without practicing it?
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Yes. How did that turn out?
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Uh, not very good,
I ended up quitting.
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Why? Well, it was piano.
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And I begged my mom to
let me quit taking lessons,
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and I finally wear her
down where she let me quitting,
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I regret it to this day.
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So do you think
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that you could
ever run a race like,
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maybe 100 meters
race, maybe come first.
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You get that gold medal.
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You broke a record
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and everything
without practicing?
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Not at all.
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So today
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we are going to
talk about prayer
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as deliberate practice.
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I am sure you've
heard this saying that,
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"Practice makes perfect"?
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Yes
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Or that even perfect
practice makes practice perfect?
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I haven't heard it put
that way before, that's new.
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Yeah, I heard that
one a few years ago.
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The thing about it is
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when we are talking
about our prayer life,
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we are talking about
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doing something
or making it a habit.
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And we're talking about
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maybe having the
habit of praying everyday
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which is that hope
that we want to talk about.
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So making prayer a habit
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would only come
through practice,
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'cause I hated math
when I was in high school.
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But I was told
repeatedly, if you practice it,
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you will be good at it.
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I did not invest
the time to practice,
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I probably pass it a few times
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but trust me, it
was always a struggle.
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Now, how do you
feel about math today?
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I stay as far away from
it as possible, actually.
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Yeah, I don't blame you, me too.
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Yeah, you know
but it's said that,
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"To be good at anything,
you need to practice it."
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And prayer is
really no different.
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I'm sure you've heard the
same, practice makes perfect.
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Yes.
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Have you even
heard the other saying
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that perfect practice
makes practice perfect?
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I have heard a
variation of that.
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You see one psychologist
by the name of John Haze.
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He is really a
noted psychologist,
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and he examined
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the role of effort and practice,
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and knowledge in the
lives of top performance, right?
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Such as Mozart and Picasso.
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We like the
music of these people,
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most people do.
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And so he practiced
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or he actually
studied their practices,
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and his findings suggest
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that top performers would spend
at least a decade practicing.
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Wow. Ten years.
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Over, just over the
course of their lifetime?
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One work, one piece of work.
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The incredible pieces of work
that we are able to enjoy now.
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They would spend
ten years doing that,
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and they call that a
decade or ten years of silence.
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Wow.
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And so they would
perfect that piece,
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that piece of music, or art,
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or whatever it is that we enjoy,
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but they have
that decade of silence.
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Another I believe might be
a sociologist Erickson found
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that top performers
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would put in as
much as ten hours
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of practice to perfect
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or become
expertise in their fields.
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Hmm. Mm-hmm.
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So they are
showing that these people
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who we look at as top performers
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would dedicate
deliberate time to practice,
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'cause remember we
are talking about prayer
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as the liberate practice.
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So yeah, basically we
have to be intentional
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about praying.
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Intentional.
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Are you a basketball
fan? Oh, yeah, I play it.
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You do, right?
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So they say top
performers like Kobe Bryant,
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he would spend,
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he did not just spend ten years
or 10,000 hours practicing,
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but he daily and deliberately
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had a rigid
schedule for practicing
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he is at which is basketball.
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Wow Right?
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And some
researchers even suggest
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that it takes one hour
of deliberate practice a day
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to become good at what you want.
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That sounds a lot like
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maybe what your
mom was trying to do
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with you with piano.
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Jason, you need
to practice today,
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and everyday probably
singing that same song,
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because somewhere in her mind
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she knew that if
you spend time everyday
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practicing the piano,
you become good at it.
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And so that's what psychologists
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and sociologists are finding.
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Now you know
Usain Bolt, right? Yeah.
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The world's fastest runner.
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So they say
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that Usain Bolt
practices at least three hours
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a day not one,
three hours a day,
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seven days a week
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and that's like
about 52 weeks a year.
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And so because he
practices so much,
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if you calculate
the number of hours
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that he practice and
put that into seconds,
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he actually
practices about 262,080 seconds
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to win a 100 meter
race in 9.58 seconds.
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Wow. Just imagine that.
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The amount of practice
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that he puts in to just
perfect in his art of running,
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so that he can win a race
in that little bit of time.
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And so the truth is
whatever you decide to work
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on as a habit,
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and in this case
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we are talking about
improving our prayer lives,
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developing that habit of praying
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everyday, that hope.
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The habit of praying everyday,
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whatever, when we decide
to actually spend time doing
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that everything
that may come up,
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could come up.
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Because you know
when you want to practice
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doing something good,
there is always distractions.
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Things are
always going to come up,
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but we need to
be very deliberate
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and that's why we
need to be very deliberate
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in setting specific times
and to practice that habit,
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just as we see these artists,
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or these athletes
setting specific time for them
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to practice their art,
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so that they could be
become top performers.
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Yeah, now especially
when we want to talk to God,
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it seems like or we
want to have worship
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or something like that,
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it seems like all of
the sudden the phone rings,
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or somebody knocks at the door,
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or you know the
devil's always trying
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to throw a wedge
in between us and God,
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so he's constantly
trying to distract us.
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And that's why we
have to be so deliberate
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and specific
about what we are doing,
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because I am sure if
we are dating somebody,
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we want to go out
on a date tonight.
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We would choose the
place we want to go,
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with the time we want
to meet and everything.
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And it doesn't
matter what comes up
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before we leave
to go on that date.
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We will make sure that
we go on that date anyway.
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And so, as deliberate
as we are in doing that,
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we need to be
deliberate in our time with God
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in practicing
the art of praying.
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I am saying the
art just to suggest,
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just like these artists
are practicing their art.
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If we want to
become a top performer
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in our prayer life, we
need to be as deliberate.
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Because biblical
examples are so clear
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that men and women
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who were persons
of deliberate prayers
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were also
persons of mighty acts.
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And so, when we look
at somebody like Elijah.
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You remember Elijah story
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when he was there
with the prophets of Baal.
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It's really one of my favorite
animated stories in my head
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in the Bible about prayer.
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Because these
people were out there,
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I don't want to get
into that story too much
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but it always excites me,
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because they
were out there all day
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trying to get
their gods to answer
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and the gods
couldn't do anything,
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and at the evening
time Elijah is like,
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"You know what, guys,
come, everybody come for a show,
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let me show you
who is the real God."
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And he just
brought down the house.
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He just close off everything.
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By the time he was done,
they knew who his God was.
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And for Elijah
to have done that,
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we know that Elijah was the man
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who deliberately
spend time praying,
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because he knew for
sure that God would answer.
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Why else would you
put on such a big show
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if you didn't know
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that your God
was going to answer.
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And so we know he was
a mighty man of prayer.
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We look at for
example, John the Apostle.
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He received a vision
for the Book of Revelation,
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and to date
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we are still using that
book as our key reference
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for end time results.
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Because John was the
person who deliberately prayed.
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Then we have Paul,
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he wrote the largest
part of the New Testament,
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and we are told
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that he did a lot of
praying about his ministry.
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So these mighty people of prayer
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were also great people
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when it comes to
doing everything else,
00:10:07.77\00:10:09.57
because their prayer
lives are getting impacted
00:10:09.60\00:10:12.27
what they were doing.
00:10:12.31\00:10:13.81
And one of the persons
00:10:13.84\00:10:15.94
who really sets
00:10:15.98\00:10:17.75
the example of what it
is to deliberately have
00:10:17.78\00:10:20.75
that habit of praying everyday
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or to be deliberate
in praying is Daniel.
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And remember his
story in Daniel 6:10,
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"When Daniel had
learnt of the decree
00:10:30.63\00:10:32.89
that had been published,
00:10:32.93\00:10:34.30
he went home to
his upstairs room
00:10:34.33\00:10:37.03
where the windows were
opened toward Jerusalem.
00:10:37.07\00:10:39.87
Three times a day he got
down on his knees and prayed,
00:10:39.90\00:10:43.47
giving thanks to his God,
just as he had done before."
00:10:43.51\00:10:48.84
Yeah, prayer and
one of the things
00:10:48.88\00:10:52.05
about each one
of those individuals
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that you named, is
they prayed with faith,
00:10:54.85\00:10:57.65
like they believed.
00:10:57.69\00:10:59.05
They had such a
great relationship with God
00:10:59.09\00:11:01.72
that they trusted Him.
00:11:01.76\00:11:03.29
And, you know, we have talked
00:11:03.32\00:11:04.66
about intimacy as
it relates to prayer,
00:11:04.69\00:11:07.43
and their trust came from them
00:11:07.46\00:11:10.37
being intimate
with God in trust,
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then they grew,
they gain that trust.
00:11:13.20\00:11:15.54
And then they,
00:11:15.57\00:11:16.91
you know, spending
that time with Him,
00:11:16.94\00:11:18.27
that valuable time.
00:11:18.31\00:11:19.81
And that had to come
from a deliberate effort,
00:11:19.84\00:11:22.94
because no
relationship will grow
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if we do not
invest the time in it,
00:11:24.85\00:11:28.45
in terms of the
quality time spent.
00:11:28.48\00:11:30.25
If that person
learning their voice
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and all of these other things,
00:11:32.19\00:11:33.52
so these guys
were very deliberate.
00:11:33.56\00:11:35.02
And so by the time it
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would have come down for them
00:11:36.56\00:11:38.03
to be able to have or
give an effective prayer,
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it was very easy for them,
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or to do a great work
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it became easy
for them in our eyes,
00:11:44.67\00:11:48.10
but they had put
in all of the work
00:11:48.14\00:11:49.54
behind the scenes,
00:11:49.57\00:11:50.91
that's in investing time in
their relationship with God.
00:11:50.94\00:11:53.58
Daniel was such a
great man of prayer
00:11:53.61\00:11:55.61
that he was
arrested for praying.
00:11:55.64\00:11:58.38
Wow! You
remember he got arrested.
00:11:58.41\00:11:59.75
Yes. Yes.
00:11:59.78\00:12:01.12
But the thing is he prayed
00:12:01.15\00:12:02.48
when it was
against the Lord to pray.
00:12:02.52\00:12:05.79
You understand?
00:12:05.82\00:12:07.16
His habit was...
00:12:07.19\00:12:08.52
The habit was so embedded in him
00:12:08.56\00:12:10.26
that even when he knew
that his life was on the line,
00:12:10.29\00:12:13.26
that he could
have gotten arrested
00:12:13.29\00:12:14.63
and get thrown into jail,
he still went ahead praying.
00:12:14.66\00:12:17.47
Even though
Daniel prayed in secret,
00:12:17.50\00:12:19.40
I am sure it was a far end
00:12:19.43\00:12:20.77
that he did not keep
his prayer life a secret.
00:12:20.80\00:12:23.71
That is how his enemies
were able to plot for him.
00:12:23.74\00:12:27.24
So yes, he was
praying in his home in secret,
00:12:27.28\00:12:30.31
but they knew that
this guy was a guy of pray,
00:12:30.35\00:12:33.75
and they knew
exactly how to get him.
00:12:33.78\00:12:36.85
So we can learn a
lot from that one verse.
00:12:36.89\00:12:39.15
It's amazing how just one verse,
00:12:39.19\00:12:41.06
Daniel 6:10 can
teach us so many lessons
00:12:41.09\00:12:44.59
about how we can be
deliberate in our prayer life.
00:12:44.63\00:12:47.46
And one of the
things I can pull out
00:12:47.50\00:12:49.43
from that is that
Daniel was committed to pray.
00:12:49.46\00:12:52.53
Because even after
the decree was passed,
00:12:52.57\00:12:55.10
he could not stop,
because it was a habit.
00:12:55.14\00:12:58.31
He still went there everyday,
three times a day praying,
00:12:58.34\00:13:01.44
because it was his
custom, it was his habit,
00:13:01.48\00:13:04.71
it was instilled in him,
00:13:04.75\00:13:06.08
and it had become natural to him
00:13:06.11\00:13:07.78
so he couldn't stop.
00:13:07.82\00:13:09.32
And I mean, I
saw him putting that
00:13:09.35\00:13:10.95
and also another
lesson in there is that,
00:13:10.99\00:13:13.42
God's law supersedes man's law.
00:13:13.46\00:13:16.22
God's law trumps man's law.
00:13:16.26\00:13:19.03
So if man's law
goes against God's law,
00:13:19.06\00:13:21.66
you have to keep God's law.
00:13:21.70\00:13:24.07
Because he had an
allegiance to the king,
00:13:24.10\00:13:26.23
but he knew
00:13:26.27\00:13:27.60
that his greater
allegiance was to God.
00:13:27.64\00:13:30.11
And so that's why he was
able to continue to pray.
00:13:30.14\00:13:32.77
Another lesson we can
pick up from his stories
00:13:32.81\00:13:34.84
that Daniel had
specific times to pray,
00:13:34.88\00:13:37.65
because the text was clear,
three times a day he prayed,
00:13:37.68\00:13:43.18
and I call that
having dates of God.
00:13:43.22\00:13:45.29
I remember when I...
00:13:45.32\00:13:46.65
Before I went to the
Philippines to study,
00:13:46.69\00:13:48.82
I remember looking
00:13:48.86\00:13:50.19
at the aerial
view of the campus,
00:13:50.23\00:13:53.03
and because it was going
to be a genuine faith for me
00:13:53.06\00:13:55.56
in terms of not knowing
00:13:55.60\00:13:56.93
how I was gonna pay for it
and even get there and so on.
00:13:56.97\00:14:00.14
I remember seeing the
prayer garden on campus
00:14:00.17\00:14:02.47
and saying to God,
00:14:02.50\00:14:03.94
"I am going to meet you there,"
00:14:03.97\00:14:06.17
'cause I wanted to have
my dates with God there.
00:14:06.21\00:14:09.81
And Daniel set
that example for us
00:14:09.84\00:14:13.48
having those specific times.
00:14:13.52\00:14:15.48
You want to make time,
00:14:15.52\00:14:16.85
some of us when
we have our friends
00:14:16.89\00:14:19.49
or loved ones, or girlfriend,
boyfriend, spouse, kids abroad,
00:14:19.52\00:14:23.69
we will set
specific times to call,
00:14:23.73\00:14:26.16
because there
may be a difference
00:14:26.19\00:14:27.53
in the time zones,
00:14:27.56\00:14:28.93
or maybe we try to accommodate
00:14:28.96\00:14:30.37
the person's work
schedule and so on.
00:14:30.40\00:14:31.80
But the point is
that we set specific times
00:14:31.83\00:14:34.27
to speak to the people
00:14:34.30\00:14:35.64
that we love
and Daniel did that,
00:14:35.67\00:14:37.51
he set those specific times.
00:14:37.54\00:14:39.51
Another thing he did,
he had a specific place.
00:14:39.54\00:14:43.95
And I remember one of
my friends Deane Fong.
00:14:43.98\00:14:46.95
One of my older
friends, a very great example,
00:14:46.98\00:14:48.85
one of my prayer mentors.
00:14:48.88\00:14:50.52
At her home,
00:14:50.55\00:14:52.09
she had one specific sofa
just for her to meet with God,
00:14:52.12\00:14:57.06
that was her place to
pray, her quiet place.
00:14:57.09\00:15:00.80
Her place, she would dress
up very nicely and sit there,
00:15:00.83\00:15:03.97
because it was her
place to meet with God.
00:15:04.00\00:15:07.34
And Daniel shows us
00:15:07.37\00:15:08.94
that he also had specific place,
00:15:08.97\00:15:12.34
a specific place
to pray with God.
00:15:12.37\00:15:14.58
And for me that prayer
garden that I had mentioned.
00:15:14.61\00:15:16.81
And one of my friends,
00:15:16.85\00:15:18.18
a pastor friend
of mine from Kenya,
00:15:18.21\00:15:20.15
we would meet in that
prayer garden to pray,
00:15:20.18\00:15:22.48
and he posted online recently
00:15:22.52\00:15:24.59
saying about how
important that place was.
00:15:24.62\00:15:27.19
Because you see right
there in that specific place
00:15:27.22\00:15:29.76
we would go to pray,
00:15:29.79\00:15:31.26
we saw God
answer so many prayers,
00:15:31.29\00:15:33.36
so that place had significance.
00:15:33.40\00:15:35.63
So just imagine,
00:15:35.66\00:15:37.00
if you have custom
of meeting God here,
00:15:37.03\00:15:38.37
or just imagine you go on
date at a particular restaurant
00:15:38.40\00:15:42.24
and the experience was so good,
00:15:42.27\00:15:44.87
every time you think of
going on another good date,
00:15:44.91\00:15:47.48
you may want to go
back to that place,
00:15:47.51\00:15:48.98
because the
experience was so great.
00:15:49.01\00:15:50.81
Yes. Yes.
00:15:50.85\00:15:52.18
So while we could pray anywhere,
00:15:52.21\00:15:54.22
or we could
talk to God anywhere.
00:15:54.25\00:15:57.05
If we have that specific place
00:15:57.09\00:15:58.99
that gives
reference to experiences
00:15:59.02\00:16:01.46
that are great.
00:16:01.49\00:16:02.82
We would want to be
in that place again,
00:16:02.86\00:16:04.63
because the
experiences were great.
00:16:04.66\00:16:05.99
Do you hear people
traveling to a new country
00:16:06.03\00:16:08.13
and oh, my goodness,
00:16:08.16\00:16:09.50
it was so good,
I want to go back.
00:16:09.53\00:16:10.87
Yes. Yes.
00:16:10.90\00:16:12.23
So Daniel's specific place
where his experience with God
00:16:12.27\00:16:15.10
may have been so
fantastic that he is like,
00:16:15.14\00:16:17.74
"I am going to
meet God everyday there
00:16:17.77\00:16:19.41
even though
00:16:19.44\00:16:20.78
I can probably
pray somewhere else."
00:16:20.81\00:16:23.04
I know a pastor,
00:16:23.08\00:16:24.98
I met a pastor that
he has a certain room
00:16:25.01\00:16:30.15
dedicated specifically
for God in his house,
00:16:30.19\00:16:34.76
and he goes in there and prays.
00:16:34.79\00:16:37.03
I really like the idea of having
00:16:37.06\00:16:38.86
a specific place to pray.
00:16:38.89\00:16:40.66
Actually, I remember
many years ago looking at,
00:16:40.70\00:16:43.00
you know, just
like the practices
00:16:43.03\00:16:45.10
of some other religions
00:16:45.13\00:16:46.47
where they would
set out a specific place
00:16:46.50\00:16:48.50
in their homes for prayer.
00:16:48.54\00:16:50.54
And then a movie
came out recently
00:16:50.57\00:16:52.94
where the
persons were also doing
00:16:52.97\00:16:54.61
the same thing,
having that specific place
00:16:54.64\00:16:56.75
where you meet with God,
00:16:56.78\00:16:58.68
and I think it's
an excellent idea.
00:16:58.71\00:17:00.95
And Daniel again
in that one verse,
00:17:00.98\00:17:03.15
Daniel 6:10,
00:17:03.18\00:17:04.55
he shows us that he
had a particular posture,
00:17:04.59\00:17:06.92
not that it's the
only way we should pray,
00:17:06.96\00:17:08.76
but it just shows
00:17:08.79\00:17:10.13
some form of
humility in his sense
00:17:10.16\00:17:11.69
where he was
humbling himself before God,
00:17:11.73\00:17:13.86
when he knelt down.
00:17:13.90\00:17:15.63
And one of the
things that I pull out
00:17:15.66\00:17:17.07
of that text
again in his practice
00:17:17.10\00:17:19.20
was that he gave thanks to God.
00:17:19.23\00:17:20.90
You know, even in the midst
00:17:20.94\00:17:22.30
of what could have been chaotic.
00:17:22.34\00:17:23.81
Because remember,
the decree was passed,
00:17:23.84\00:17:25.91
hey, nobody should
be praying, except,
00:17:25.94\00:17:28.48
you know, to king and so
on, but he gave thanks to God,
00:17:28.51\00:17:31.41
because it was his
habit, his practice.
00:17:31.45\00:17:34.78
And another
instance in his life,
00:17:34.82\00:17:36.52
there is another time
00:17:36.55\00:17:37.89
where you know God
really revealed Himself
00:17:37.92\00:17:40.72
through the
prayer life of Daniel.
00:17:40.76\00:17:42.42
And we find that in Daniel 9,
00:17:42.46\00:17:44.89
where the children of Israel
00:17:44.93\00:17:46.63
has been held
captive for about 70 years.
00:17:46.66\00:17:49.16
And through Daniel's
experience God reveals here,
00:17:49.20\00:17:52.80
the captivity
will come to an end.
00:17:52.83\00:17:55.74
So from verse 3-19,
we see Daniel praying.
00:17:55.77\00:17:59.27
Now, his prayer
shook me sort of,
00:17:59.31\00:18:01.64
because Daniel
wasn't praying for himself.
00:18:01.68\00:18:04.81
Daniel began to
seek God for prayers
00:18:04.85\00:18:07.75
and having pleads
00:18:07.78\00:18:09.12
and begging God
for mercy for him
00:18:09.15\00:18:11.99
and for his people, you know.
00:18:12.02\00:18:14.46
And so Daniel
confessed his sins.
00:18:14.49\00:18:16.56
Imagine he was asking God
00:18:16.59\00:18:17.93
to confess the sins
of his people as well,
00:18:17.96\00:18:21.03
that's how far Daniel
went in his prayer life.
00:18:21.06\00:18:23.33
He honors God, he affirms God,
00:18:23.37\00:18:25.83
he gave thanks to God
00:18:25.87\00:18:27.20
just like he did in Daniel 6:10.
00:18:27.24\00:18:30.24
So we could see it
was really his habit,
00:18:30.27\00:18:32.31
because there
he was saying, God,
00:18:32.34\00:18:33.78
You were this,
and You were that,
00:18:33.81\00:18:35.14
he told God,
00:18:35.18\00:18:36.51
"Hey, I know You understand
that you know my people and I,
00:18:36.54\00:18:40.48
we may have gone
too far", he said.
00:18:40.52\00:18:42.98
We had sinned, but Daniel set,
00:18:43.02\00:18:45.95
you know he was set in
being deliberate in pleading
00:18:45.99\00:18:49.22
for forgiveness for
both him and his people.
00:18:49.26\00:18:51.46
He was interceding on behalf
of the people which is great.
00:18:51.49\00:18:54.63
A big part of prayer.
00:18:54.66\00:18:56.00
Like you have
that selfless prayer,
00:18:56.03\00:18:58.63
you know everything
00:18:58.67\00:19:00.14
that Christ does
is motivated by love,
00:19:00.17\00:19:03.20
so that's, yeah, that is nice.
00:19:03.24\00:19:04.57
That was powerful,
and you know what he did?
00:19:04.61\00:19:06.54
He beg God, and I was
like, wow, Daniel was bold.
00:19:06.57\00:19:09.31
He beg God to listen.
00:19:09.34\00:19:10.95
He actually said to the Lord,
00:19:10.98\00:19:12.81
"Incline your hear,"
00:19:12.85\00:19:14.22
he told God, "Open your eyes,
00:19:14.25\00:19:16.32
you see the
desolation of my people."
00:19:16.35\00:19:18.92
You see the desolation
of the people of Israel,
00:19:18.95\00:19:21.02
he was coining on
themselves and he was saying,
00:19:21.06\00:19:23.29
"God have mercy."
00:19:23.32\00:19:24.66
And what I thought
was so bold, in verse 9,
00:19:24.69\00:19:26.36
he said, "O Lord,
hear, O Lord, forgive.
00:19:26.39\00:19:27.73
O Lord pay attention and act."
00:19:27.76\00:19:34.04
That's Daniel
talking to God in prayer.
00:19:34.07\00:19:36.34
"Delay not, for your own sake,
00:19:36.37\00:19:39.21
O my God,
00:19:39.24\00:19:40.58
because your city and
your people are called
00:19:40.61\00:19:42.98
by your name."
00:19:43.01\00:19:45.18
So there he was
sort of reminding God
00:19:45.21\00:19:47.32
of who you are God.
00:19:47.35\00:19:48.68
I am reminding
You of who You are,
00:19:48.72\00:19:50.09
but I need You to act,
00:19:50.12\00:19:51.62
because we are
called by Your name.
00:19:51.65\00:19:56.06
And God answers in
the Mosaic unexpectedly.
00:19:56.09\00:20:00.03
He sends Angel
Gabriel to reveal to Daniel,
00:20:00.06\00:20:06.47
the vision or
explain that vision,
00:20:06.50\00:20:09.27
make that vision clear,
00:20:09.30\00:20:10.64
giving him
insights into not the things
00:20:10.67\00:20:12.84
just about now,
00:20:12.87\00:20:14.21
but about the future
and what it really meant
00:20:14.24\00:20:16.51
when God had revealed to him
00:20:16.54\00:20:18.11
about those 70 years
of captivity being ended.
00:20:18.15\00:20:21.38
He didn't use any symbols
or any mysterious things.
00:20:21.42\00:20:24.69
His Angel Gabriel was able
to reveal clearly to Daniel
00:20:24.72\00:20:28.56
what God had been seeing.
00:20:28.59\00:20:30.69
So it is only in
deliberate praying really
00:20:30.73\00:20:33.29
that God can actually
reveal secret things to us.
00:20:33.33\00:20:38.57
So if we are
rushed, if we are hurried,
00:20:38.60\00:20:41.34
how will we be able to
hear God speaking back to us?
00:20:41.37\00:20:44.57
How will God be able to
reveal secret things to us
00:20:44.61\00:20:47.11
if we always praying on the run.
00:20:47.14\00:20:49.44
If you're always
praying in the hurry, you know?
00:20:49.48\00:20:51.01
Yeah, like being a
relationship saying,
00:20:51.05\00:20:52.91
"Hey...Okay, bye."
00:20:52.95\00:20:56.55
Everybody feels cheated
in that kind of a thing.
00:20:56.58\00:20:58.95
Nobody likes that
kind of relationship.
00:20:58.99\00:21:00.32
One sided. Yeah, one sided.
00:21:00.36\00:21:01.69
You know, somebody
just rushing talking to you,
00:21:01.72\00:21:03.43
just left there hanging
like, really what just happened?
00:21:03.46\00:21:06.23
What did you just communicate
to me Jason, I have no idea?
00:21:06.26\00:21:09.53
You know, these kind of
things cause separation,
00:21:09.56\00:21:11.30
and you could imagine
00:21:11.33\00:21:12.67
the amount of
times we go to God.
00:21:12.70\00:21:14.57
Just rushing through our prayers
00:21:14.60\00:21:16.07
and not staying
there little moment
00:21:16.10\00:21:17.74
just to hear what He had to say.
00:21:17.77\00:21:19.77
How will we know what
He want to reveal to us,
00:21:19.81\00:21:22.31
if we just jump off the bed?
00:21:22.34\00:21:24.28
If we just jump off
from our knees and so on?
00:21:24.31\00:21:27.18
You know, it's,
if we regularly rush
00:21:27.22\00:21:29.22
to practice a game.
00:21:29.25\00:21:30.85
So I remember one
of my little sister,
00:21:30.89\00:21:32.99
she is really good at math.
00:21:33.02\00:21:35.02
So I maintained math early on is
00:21:35.06\00:21:36.39
because I have
about three of them
00:21:36.42\00:21:37.76
they are really
like, really good at it.
00:21:37.79\00:21:39.23
Really?
00:21:39.26\00:21:40.60
I remember the
ministry of education
00:21:40.63\00:21:42.26
in my country calling
my brother a math genius,
00:21:42.30\00:21:44.50
so they were really good.
00:21:44.53\00:21:45.87
But this sister of mine
should rush through her exam,
00:21:45.90\00:21:49.84
so when they would come home,
00:21:49.87\00:21:51.21
I would go
through the exam papers
00:21:51.24\00:21:52.57
and I would see her
00:21:52.61\00:21:53.94
getting one, two,
or three wrong answers,
00:21:53.98\00:21:56.01
and I would ask
her the question,
00:21:56.04\00:21:57.81
she would give
me the right answer.
00:21:57.85\00:21:59.18
But do you know
why she got it wrong
00:21:59.21\00:22:00.55
when she was at school?
00:22:00.58\00:22:01.92
Because she rushed.
00:22:01.95\00:22:03.28
Because the teacher told me
00:22:03.32\00:22:04.65
she would rush through her exam,
00:22:04.69\00:22:06.02
so she could go outside to play.
00:22:06.05\00:22:07.86
So the thing is
when we are talking about
00:22:07.89\00:22:09.22
our prayer life, if we
rush through our prayers,
00:22:09.26\00:22:13.76
and we never wait
for God to reveal to us,
00:22:13.80\00:22:15.63
we cannot
become a top performer.
00:22:15.66\00:22:17.57
Because I am sure, my sister
00:22:17.60\00:22:18.93
could have probably
been the top in her class
00:22:18.97\00:22:20.30
in that exam,
00:22:20.34\00:22:21.67
but she would not be
because she wouldn't pause.
00:22:21.70\00:22:25.11
That also speaks to priorities,
00:22:25.14\00:22:27.91
you know, we have
to prioritize our time.
00:22:27.94\00:22:30.08
We have to put God
first in all that we do.
00:22:30.11\00:22:32.11
Like with that test,
00:22:32.15\00:22:33.72
going out to play
wasn't as important as getting
00:22:33.75\00:22:36.38
that everything
right on the exam,
00:22:36.42\00:22:39.29
you know, so, yeah,
00:22:39.32\00:22:40.66
I think that's
an excellent lesson.
00:22:40.69\00:22:42.72
That's why we have
to make special times,
00:22:42.76\00:22:44.93
specific time like Daniel did.
00:22:44.96\00:22:46.73
Make dates with God
00:22:46.76\00:22:48.80
is only on the
dates with our loved ones,
00:22:48.83\00:22:51.33
when we are dating somebody,
00:22:51.37\00:22:52.80
we make it a point to make
sure we have dates, movie night,
00:22:52.83\00:22:55.70
this night, that night,
00:22:55.74\00:22:57.54
the beach, we plan
all types of dates,
00:22:57.57\00:23:00.24
because our whole point
00:23:00.28\00:23:01.61
is to get to know
the person better,
00:23:01.64\00:23:03.18
to get to know
about the secret things
00:23:03.21\00:23:05.55
about that person.
00:23:05.58\00:23:06.92
Because seeing
them on the externals,
00:23:06.95\00:23:08.92
interacting with them
briefly will never tell us
00:23:08.95\00:23:11.42
the deeper things about them.
00:23:11.45\00:23:13.49
And so in prayer
00:23:13.52\00:23:15.12
in being deliberate
in setting time to pray
00:23:15.16\00:23:18.33
and having that
special time we got in,
00:23:18.36\00:23:20.03
so he is able to reveal things.
00:23:20.06\00:23:21.90
In fact in Luke 12:2, it says,
00:23:21.93\00:23:24.90
"There is nothing covered
00:23:24.93\00:23:26.27
that will not be
revealed and hidden
00:23:26.30\00:23:27.74
that will not be made known."
00:23:27.77\00:23:29.74
Another text that I like,
00:23:29.77\00:23:31.11
when it comes to God
been able to reveal things
00:23:31.14\00:23:33.38
is Mark 4:22, it says,
00:23:33.41\00:23:35.41
"For everything that is hidden
00:23:35.44\00:23:36.85
will eventually be
brought in the open
00:23:36.88\00:23:39.11
and every secret thing
will be brought to light."
00:23:39.15\00:23:42.32
And then we go
back to Daniel again,
00:23:42.35\00:23:44.35
in Daniel 2:28,
00:23:44.39\00:23:45.95
"But there is a God in
heaven who reveals secrets,
00:23:45.99\00:23:49.46
and he has known
King Nebuchadnezzar,
00:23:49.49\00:23:52.49
what will he has
shown King Nebuchadnezzar
00:23:52.53\00:23:54.66
what will happen in the future.
00:23:54.70\00:23:56.33
Now I will tell you your dream
00:23:56.36\00:23:58.20
and the visions you saw
as you lay on your bed."
00:23:58.23\00:24:00.67
That was Daniel, God,
00:24:00.70\00:24:02.20
you know when
Daniel had the opportunity
00:24:02.24\00:24:03.87
to reveal
Nebuchadnezzar's dream.
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But the only way
00:24:05.74\00:24:07.08
he could have known to
reveal somebody else's dream
00:24:07.11\00:24:09.84
is because he had the
habit of praying everyday.
00:24:09.88\00:24:13.21
He was very
deliberate in praying,
00:24:13.25\00:24:15.02
so God could have revealed
the secret things to him,
00:24:15.05\00:24:18.55
and many of us
shortchange ourselves
00:24:18.59\00:24:21.29
in our prayer lives
00:24:21.32\00:24:22.66
because we do not
spend time with God enough.
00:24:22.69\00:24:25.69
We do not make it
a deliberate habit,
00:24:25.73\00:24:27.63
so that the
secret things of life,
00:24:27.66\00:24:29.66
the things that we really want
to know that God can tell us.
00:24:29.70\00:24:33.64
He cannot reveal it to us,
00:24:33.67\00:24:35.10
because we just don't
give him the opportunity to do
00:24:35.14\00:24:37.41
so in our intimate time.
00:24:37.44\00:24:39.04
There we go again our
intimate time with Him.
00:24:39.07\00:24:41.74
You know, I
remember my friend Debby.
00:24:41.78\00:24:43.11
Now, we had the habit of praying
00:24:43.14\00:24:44.48
about everything,
little things like,
00:24:44.51\00:24:47.05
Lord, what store
should we go and shop in?
00:24:47.08\00:24:48.75
When we go into
that particular store,
00:24:48.78\00:24:50.69
we would ask him to
set up deals for us.
00:24:50.72\00:24:53.96
So when we go there, we
can go into discount rack
00:24:53.99\00:24:56.02
and we can get
what we are looking for.
00:24:56.06\00:24:58.23
Sometimes we go
to the supermarket
00:24:58.26\00:24:59.89
and we will say,
00:24:59.93\00:25:01.26
"Hey, I don't want to spend
00:25:01.30\00:25:02.63
more than that amount of money."
00:25:02.66\00:25:04.00
Even now I still
do the same thing.
00:25:04.03\00:25:05.40
Every time I go to shop,
00:25:05.43\00:25:06.77
I have in my
mind, I have a budget,
00:25:06.80\00:25:09.60
even though I do not calculate
while I am taking things.
00:25:09.64\00:25:12.37
And so we have to be
deliberate about doing
00:25:12.41\00:25:16.21
that or asking God
to do things for us
00:25:16.24\00:25:19.01
in the little things.
00:25:19.05\00:25:20.85
And it's only as we practice
00:25:20.88\00:25:23.25
the habit of praying
everyday in the little things.
00:25:23.28\00:25:25.45
When the bigger things come,
00:25:25.49\00:25:27.56
it will be easier for
us to go to God for it,
00:25:27.59\00:25:29.92
because we have
already spent time
00:25:29.96\00:25:31.63
practicing these habits.
00:25:31.66\00:25:32.99
Remember, perfect practice
00:25:33.03\00:25:34.36
makes practice
perfect or practice,
00:25:34.40\00:25:37.03
when we practice we
become perfect at it.
00:25:37.07\00:25:38.87
So the thing is when we practice
00:25:38.90\00:25:40.24
in the little things,
then in the big things
00:25:40.27\00:25:42.60
it's easier for
us now to understand.
00:25:42.64\00:25:44.97
And there are so
many other things
00:25:45.01\00:25:46.61
that I could say
on the topic of us
00:25:46.64\00:25:50.25
really practicing prayer,
00:25:50.28\00:25:52.65
so that we can
perfect these habits.
00:25:52.68\00:25:54.75
But some of the
takeaways I want us to have
00:25:54.78\00:25:56.72
is that you cannot
leave your prayer time
00:25:56.75\00:25:58.45
to spare pockets of
time in your busy schedule.
00:25:58.49\00:26:02.19
You need to be very deliberate
in setting times to pray.
00:26:02.22\00:26:05.86
And if you practice the
habit of praying everyday,
00:26:05.89\00:26:08.00
you will perfect it.
00:26:08.03\00:26:09.40
It doesn't mean
00:26:09.43\00:26:10.77
that you would be
more eloquent in praying,
00:26:10.80\00:26:12.50
it means you become
more effective in praying.
00:26:12.53\00:26:15.50
And if you want
to be a top performer
00:26:15.54\00:26:17.34
in your prayer life,
00:26:17.37\00:26:18.71
you need to have the
habit of deliberately
00:26:18.74\00:26:21.38
spending time with God.
00:26:21.41\00:26:23.95
Is in practicing
00:26:23.98\00:26:25.88
that you learn not
only to talk to God,
00:26:25.91\00:26:27.98
but you are able
to hear His voice.
00:26:28.02\00:26:31.65
In fact, you are
tuned to hear His voice,
00:26:31.69\00:26:33.99
and you are clear
about His directions
00:26:34.02\00:26:35.92
and plans for your life.
00:26:35.96\00:26:37.99
And so we could
say a prayer right now.
00:26:38.03\00:26:40.30
You know, Father,
teach us how to pray.
00:26:40.33\00:26:43.16
Give us the desire to
want to perfect the practice,
00:26:43.20\00:26:47.24
or the habit of
praying everyday.
00:26:47.27\00:26:50.21
Help us to recognize
that we can only get better.
00:26:50.24\00:26:53.78
We can only be more effective,
00:26:53.81\00:26:56.28
when we truly spend
time deliberately practicing
00:26:56.31\00:27:00.72
the habit of praying everyday.
00:27:00.75\00:27:02.42
We thank You for
giving us this avenue,
00:27:02.45\00:27:04.45
we pray in the
name of Jesus, amen.
00:27:04.49\00:27:06.39
Amen.
00:27:06.42\00:27:07.76
Thanks, Dr. Nadine,
00:27:07.79\00:27:09.12
for that great information
you shared with us today.
00:27:09.16\00:27:12.09
We pray that you were
blessed by today's program.
00:27:12.13\00:27:15.56
Make prayer a deliberate
practicing in your daily life
00:27:15.60\00:27:18.10
and watch your
prayer life explode.
00:27:18.13\00:27:20.67
Be sure to tune in next time
00:27:20.70\00:27:22.47
when Nadine
shares more information
00:27:22.50\00:27:25.37
to supply The Missing Peace.
00:27:25.41\00:27:28.38