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This one comes from Damien.

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And I'm going to move fast.

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But I love this question.

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I just love it.

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I hope there's some of you that do too.

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Damien says,

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"I love God.

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I worship Him.

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But I want to know Him more.

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I want His power to be

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pressed upon my life more.

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I want to walk with Him closer.

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I need to walk in His holy presence.

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I want to be more for Him.

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But I just feel weak.

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I try, but He does not come.

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I want to experience God more.

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How can I do that?

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How can I walk just with Him daily?

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How can I ascend the hill of the Lord

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and stand in His holy place?"

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And it sounds like he might have listened to

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the Bible study that we did about a month ago.

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Well, Damien, I come back to one verse

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over and over and over again.

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John 14:21

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Most of you have heard me quote it before.

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It's well worth quoting again.

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John 14:21

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"Whoever has My commandments

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and keeps them,

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he it is who loves Me,

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and he who love Me will be loved by My Father,

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and I will love Him, (and here it is)

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and manifest Myself to him."

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There is a manifestation of Christ

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to the soul of His people.

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And it is tied with having His commandments

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and keeping them.

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I know that A.W. Tozer, Martyn Lloyd-Jones,

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they both make comments about

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our obedience and how they relate

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to our desires to know God.

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Brethren, you know what?

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There's an Old Testament parallel to this.

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I like this one too.

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Isaiah 66:2

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Listen to this, God says,

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"This is the one to whom I will look,

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he who is humble and contrite in spirit,

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and trembles at My Word."

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Guess what?

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To have Christ's commandments and keep them?

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That's a New Testament version

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of trembling at God's Word.

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You tremble at God's Word

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when you do God's Word.

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Not when you hear it and don't do it.

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But when you hear it,

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and you tremble, and do it.

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Jesus Christ says if you have His commandments

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and you do it.

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In the Old Testament, it's if you tremble at His Word.

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God says to that man I'll look.

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What does that mean?

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There is something special in that.

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To that man I look.

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To that man Christ says I will manifest Myself.

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Those of you along with Damien,

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you have some concern about this,

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you want to excel more.

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I want to read to you a quote from Tozer.

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I'm going to end up here, pretty much,

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just reading a quote from Tozer

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and one from Spurgeon

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and we'll wrap things up.

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Listen to what Tozer said.

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Hear him well.

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These words he probably wrote, who knows,

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three or four decades ago.

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But they stand true and firm to this day.

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Tozer said this,

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"We don't need any new doctrine.

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No new movement.

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No key."

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You know how we get oftentimes?

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Well, we got to go to the new deal.

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Got to go to the new conference.

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Got to go to the new thing.

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Some new preacher over there.

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Some new program; some new thing

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up in the mountains.

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Some new thing going to have the special preachers.

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Yeah, if we could just get to that,

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we can go to that,

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then we can be the kind of Christian

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we need to be.

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You know what, that doesn't do it.

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The fact is, Tozer's hitting on it.

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You don't need a new doctrine;

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you don't need a new movement,

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you don't need a new key,

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you don't need some imported evangelist,

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some expensive course to show us the way.

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"It's before us as clear as

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a four lane highway."

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What is it?

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Have His commandments and keep them.

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He puts it this way:

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"Just do the next thing you know you should do

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to carry out the will of the Lord.

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If there's sin in your life,

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quit it instantly.

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Put away lying, put away gossip,

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put away dishonesty.

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Whatever your sin may be, put it away.

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Forsake worldly pleasures.

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Forsake extravagance in your spending.

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Forsake the vanity in your dress.

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Forsake the vanity in your car.

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Forsake the vanity in your home.

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In other words, put away your idols.

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Get right with any person you may have wronged.

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Forgive everyone who may have wronged you.

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Begin to use your money to help the poor.

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Advance the cause of Christ.

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Take up the cross, live sacrificially,

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pray, attend the Lord's services,

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witness for Christ, not only when it's convenient,

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but when you know you should.

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Look to no cost and fear no consequences.

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Study the Bible to learn the will of God

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and then do His will as you understand it.

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Start now by doing the next thing

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and go on from there."

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I'll tell you what,

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it doesn't get a whole lot simpler than that.

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We don't really need some new course,

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we don't need some new preacher,

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we don't need to go out to some new

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course work somewhere,

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we don't need the new thing, the new key,

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the new secret.

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It really comes down to that.

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You want to know the manifestations of Christ

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more fully than you've ever known them?

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You want to know what it is to have God look at you?

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You want to know what it is to be visited?

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I'll tell you what,

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God rarely visits with the people

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who run around their lives living all the way

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they want to, all extravagant, all worldly,

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all corrupt, all disobedient.

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No, they're typically not the ones that know

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the savory presence,

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the aroma of Jesus Christ in the secret place,

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in the inner parts of the soul.

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They're typically not the persons that have

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that type of visitation.

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You know what,

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He is of pure eyes than to behold iniquity.

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He chooses carefully those whom He visits.

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And I'm not ruling out what God can do,

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and I'm not wanting to put Him in a box,

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but I'm telling you this,

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you have a word to bank on

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that if obedience is a regular thing in your life

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and you are pressing on to live more and more...

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You know what?

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He said you need to die to yourself.

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You need to carry your cross.

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Do you know what carrying your cross is?

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It's that life right there.

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Carrying your cross is living according to His will.

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Have we not been talking about it in Romans 12?

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Living sacrifice.

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That's exactly what it is.

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Living sacrifice to God.

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All of it on the altar.

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Doing what His will is.

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Discerning.

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Trying what His will is.

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What is that acceptable,

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what is that good,

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what is that perfect?

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That's what you find in Romans 12:2.

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It's knowing what to do

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and doing it.

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And once you do the one thing,

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then you go on to the next thing.

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And you live your life doing

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what you know is good.

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Spurgeon says it this way.

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Now we're moving off a little bit

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from the obedience thing.

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Spurgeon hits on prayer.

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But I would say obedience and prayer life.

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But I'll tell you this,

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I have never known anybody

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mark my words,

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whether it's been myself,

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whether it's been those that I've read about,

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or those I've personally spoken to,

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I have never known a single person

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that has had great, dear, close

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extensive manifestations of closeness to God

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who have not prayed.

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They do not come to prayerless people.

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I have not known that to happen.

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Listen to what Spurgeon says,

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"The saint may expect to discover

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deeper experience,

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and to know more of the higher spiritual life

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by being much in prayer.

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There are common frames

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in the Christian life.

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There's feelings of repentance,

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there's faith, there's the joy and hope

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that are enjoyed by the entire family of God.

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But...

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there is an upper realm of rapture,

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of communion,

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of conscious union with Christ,

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that is far from being

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the common dwelling place of believers.

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All believers see Christ.

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But not all believers put their fingers

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into the prints of the nails,

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or thrust their hand into his side.

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Not all of us have the high privilege of John

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to lean upon Jesus' bosom,

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or be caught up into the third heaven

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as Paul was.

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In the ark of salvation, we find a lower,

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a second, and a third story.

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All are in the ark.

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But not all are in the same story.

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Most Christians are only up to their ankles

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in the river of experience.

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Some have waded till the stream

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is up to their knees.

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A few find the water up to their shoulders.

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But a very few find it a river to swim in.

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The bottom of which they cannot touch.

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There are heights in experiential knowledge

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of the things of God, the eagle's eye of acumen

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and philosophic thought have never seen.

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God alone can bring us there,

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but the chariot in which He takes us up,

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and the fiery steeds with which the chariot is dragged,

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is prevailing prayer."

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I read somewhere one time

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where someone said,

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we get as much of God

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as we want.

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I think there's truth in that statement.

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And those who want Him,

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those who pant after Him,

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those who hunger after Him,

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their obedience and their prayer life

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prove that they want Him.

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You cannot tell me,

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"Oh, I want Him; I'm panting after Him;

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I'm going hard after Him."

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And then your life is full of all sorts of disobedience.

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That doesn't fly.

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You can't tell me,

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"Oh, I want to know Him."

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"I want this experience. I want to find it

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a river to swim in."

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And yet my life is prayerless...

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You're not going to convince me of such things.

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You know what the Scripture says?

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I sought the Lord, and He answered me.

275
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You want to delve into this,

276
00:10:48,680 --> 00:10:51,502
there's got to be a seeking.

277
00:10:51,502 --> 00:10:54,168
It's when you seek, it's when you knock.

278
00:10:54,168 --> 00:10:57,787
There is a knocking and there is a banging,

279
00:10:57,787 --> 00:11:00,392
and there is a seeking and there is a praying

280
00:11:00,392 --> 00:11:01,834
and there is an asking.

281
00:11:01,834 --> 00:11:02,838
There is prayer.

282
00:11:02,838 --> 00:11:04,037
There is seeking.

283
00:11:04,037 --> 00:11:05,060
There is knocking.

284
00:11:05,060 --> 00:11:07,014
Some of that seeking is going to come

285
00:11:07,014 --> 00:11:11,098
through the obedience in your life.

286
00:11:11,098 --> 00:11:13,421
Brethren, I'll tell you, you can pray for this too.

287
00:11:13,421 --> 00:11:15,629
Scripture says that He gives the Holy Spirit

288
00:11:15,629 --> 00:11:17,162
to them that ask.

289
00:11:17,162 --> 00:11:19,318
Part of that great manifestation of God

290
00:11:19,318 --> 00:11:21,427
to the souls of His people

291
00:11:21,427 --> 00:11:25,021
is just outpourings of the Spirit of God.

292
00:11:25,021 --> 00:11:26,803
And it says if we'll ask.

293
00:11:26,803 --> 00:11:28,635
You know, the problem with people is,

294
00:11:28,635 --> 00:11:30,346
they hear a statement like that

295
00:11:30,346 --> 00:11:31,450
and they say,

296
00:11:31,450 --> 00:11:34,161
"Lord, can I have the Holy Spirit?"

297
00:11:34,161 --> 00:11:36,114
Nothing happens.

298
00:11:36,114 --> 00:11:37,658
They just go on with life.

299
00:11:37,658 --> 00:11:39,730
But there are some people,

300
00:11:39,730 --> 00:11:44,123
they say no, God has said it.

301
00:11:44,123 --> 00:11:47,164
They have the heart of David.

302
00:11:47,164 --> 00:11:50,269
"As a deer pants for flowing streams,

303
00:11:50,269 --> 00:11:53,078
so pants my soul for You, O God.

304
00:11:53,078 --> 00:11:56,962
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

305
00:11:56,962 --> 00:12:00,693
When shall I come and appear before God?

306
00:12:00,693 --> 00:12:02,271
O God, You are my God.

307
00:12:02,271 --> 00:12:03,592
Earnestly I seek You,

308
00:12:03,592 --> 00:12:05,023
my soul thirsts for You,

309
00:12:05,023 --> 00:12:06,471
my flesh faints for You,

310
00:12:06,471 --> 00:12:08,894
as in a dry and weary land

311
00:12:08,894 --> 00:12:10,678
where there is no water."

312
00:12:10,678 --> 00:12:12,525
You know what?

313
00:12:12,525 --> 00:12:14,632
Scripture says He fills the hungry.

314
00:12:14,632 --> 00:12:16,939
You go panting after God,

315
00:12:16,939 --> 00:12:18,076
you go after Him,

316
00:12:18,076 --> 00:12:19,472
you don't give Him any rest,

317
00:12:19,472 --> 00:12:21,287
you keep knocking, you keep seeking,

318
00:12:21,287 --> 00:12:23,416
you keep asking, you keep taking these texts

319
00:12:23,416 --> 00:12:25,034
before Him, you keep going to Him

320
00:12:25,034 --> 00:12:26,500
and pressing in there,

321
00:12:26,500 --> 00:12:29,632
you, by a life of obedience, you keep after Him,

322
00:12:29,632 --> 00:12:33,394
you get to know Him intimately in the prayer place,

323
00:12:33,394 --> 00:12:35,665
and I'll tell you, it won't be long.

324
00:12:35,665 --> 00:12:37,514
I know this for a fact.

325
00:12:37,514 --> 00:12:39,926
God will not let His people go on like that

326
00:12:39,926 --> 00:12:44,919
without eventually coming to him.

327
00:12:44,919 --> 00:12:48,156
I remember being at the one and only

328
00:12:48,156 --> 00:12:49,966
HeartCry Conference that I went to,

329
00:12:49,966 --> 00:12:52,614
and I remember Charles Leiter told me there,

330
00:12:52,614 --> 00:12:56,029
he knew of a pastor friend that took that text

331
00:12:56,029 --> 00:13:02,241
in Luke 11:13 that said if we then being evil

332
00:13:02,241 --> 00:13:04,146
know how to give good gifts to our children,

333
00:13:04,146 --> 00:13:05,628
how much more will our Father in heaven

334
00:13:05,628 --> 00:13:08,965
give good gifts to those who ask.

335
00:13:08,965 --> 00:13:10,536
And he said he had a pastor friend

336
00:13:10,536 --> 00:13:12,835
who took that verse and he began to plead it.

337
00:13:12,835 --> 00:13:15,145
And he was pleading it for years,

338
00:13:15,145 --> 00:13:21,326
and finally God came.

339
00:13:21,326 --> 00:13:23,947
Brethren, you want to walk on that holy place?

340
00:13:23,947 --> 00:13:28,492
You want to walk on God's mountain?

341
00:13:28,492 --> 00:13:30,080
It's not going to be something that

342
00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:31,678
you're just going to live your life

343
00:13:31,678 --> 00:13:33,253
sitting in front of a television,

344
00:13:33,253 --> 00:13:35,093
not going to be living your life sitting

345
00:13:35,093 --> 00:13:39,450
in front of a computer that's going to take you there.

346
00:13:39,450 --> 00:13:41,002
You're going to need to know God

347
00:13:41,002 --> 00:13:44,398
in the secret place of prayer.

348
00:13:44,398 --> 00:13:47,230
You're going to need to know God

349
00:13:47,230 --> 00:13:48,832
and know His commandments

350
00:13:48,832 --> 00:13:51,546
in the place of obedience.

351
00:13:51,546 --> 00:13:52,812
I'm telling you, any of you out there

352
00:13:52,812 --> 00:13:54,591
you're hungry?

353
00:13:54,591 --> 00:13:56,371
And you have that same heart of David?

354
00:13:56,371 --> 00:13:58,706
And you're heart is panting after God?

355
00:13:58,706 --> 00:14:00,960
Press on, brethren. Press on right there.

356
00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:02,282
Do the next thing you know how.

357
00:14:02,282 --> 00:14:03,653
Go to God's Word. Study it.

358
00:14:03,653 --> 00:14:05,684
You see it there. Apply it.

359
00:14:05,684 --> 00:14:07,136
Put it to practice in your life.

360
00:14:07,136 --> 00:14:09,255
Live it.

361
00:14:09,255 --> 00:14:11,196
And learn what it is to pray.

362
00:14:11,196 --> 00:14:12,887
And it's not something I can teach you.

363
00:14:12,887 --> 00:14:14,187
Prayer is not taught.

364
00:14:14,187 --> 00:14:15,427
Prayer is something you learn out there

365
00:14:15,427 --> 00:14:17,318
in the fields, out there in the closet,

366
00:14:17,318 --> 00:14:19,234
out there leaning on your bed.

367
00:14:19,234 --> 00:14:23,567
It's something you're going to learn as you pray.

368
00:14:23,567 --> 00:14:25,852
Yes, there's theory

369
00:14:25,852 --> 00:14:27,873
and there's theological realities,

370
00:14:27,873 --> 00:14:29,309
and there's verses in the Bible

371
00:14:29,309 --> 00:14:30,769
that we can take to.

372
00:14:30,769 --> 00:14:32,280
But just doing a study on

373
00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:33,470
the theology of prayer

374
00:14:33,470 --> 00:14:35,770
isn't want teaches prayer.

375
00:14:35,770 --> 00:14:37,898
You've got to come to know God

376
00:14:37,898 --> 00:14:41,267
in the midst of it.

377
00:14:41,267 --> 00:14:43,782
Brethren, listen to this.

378
00:14:43,782 --> 00:14:46,335
I want to end with this.

379
00:14:46,335 --> 00:14:48,470
So often this text is misused.

380
00:14:48,470 --> 00:14:50,222
So often, and you probably know the one

381
00:14:50,222 --> 00:14:52,235
if I say enough about it where I'm going with this.

382
00:14:52,235 --> 00:14:54,004
There is a text in the Bible that is so

383
00:14:54,004 --> 00:14:56,804
often misused as an evangelistic text.

384
00:14:56,804 --> 00:14:58,997
It is not an evangelistic text.

385
00:14:58,997 --> 00:15:01,530
It is a text that is for God's people.

386
00:15:01,530 --> 00:15:03,589
God's covenant people.

387
00:15:03,589 --> 00:15:05,422
You may know where I'm talking about.

388
00:15:05,422 --> 00:15:07,005
Revelation 3:20

389
00:15:07,005 --> 00:15:08,286
This is what Christ says, 


390
00:15:08,286 --> 00:15:13,147
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

391
00:15:13,147 --> 00:15:15,557
If anyone hears My voice and opens the door,

392
00:15:15,557 --> 00:15:19,598
I will come into him and eat with him and he with Me."

393
00:15:19,598 --> 00:15:20,790
I'll tell you this,

394
00:15:20,790 --> 00:15:24,435
the picture in the Jewish mind of eating with somebody

395
00:15:24,435 --> 00:15:27,199
was intimacy.

396
00:15:27,199 --> 00:15:28,416
You know what Christ was saying?

397
00:15:28,416 --> 00:15:30,779
He's not saying this to lost sinners.

398
00:15:30,779 --> 00:15:32,282
So many people want us to believe that.

399
00:15:32,282 --> 00:15:34,352
He's speaking to a church.

400
00:15:34,352 --> 00:15:37,070
And He says this,

401
00:15:37,070 --> 00:15:39,576
I stand at the door and knock.

402
00:15:39,576 --> 00:15:41,814
And if you'll open to Me...

403
00:15:41,814 --> 00:15:46,201
Oh, brethren.

404
00:15:46,201 --> 00:15:50,403
What is it to open that door?

405
00:15:50,403 --> 00:15:52,417
And that text just rings of one

406
00:15:52,417 --> 00:15:53,791
from the Old Testament.

407
00:15:53,791 --> 00:15:55,369
Song of Solomon 5:2

408
00:15:55,369 --> 00:15:57,988
"I slept, but my heart was awake.

409
00:15:57,988 --> 00:16:01,223
A sound! My beloved is knocking."

410
00:16:01,223 --> 00:16:02,801
Is that not a picture of exactly

411
00:16:02,801 --> 00:16:04,223
what we find there?

412
00:16:04,223 --> 00:16:05,957
Our Beloved is knocking.

413
00:16:05,957 --> 00:16:07,237
He tells us that.

414
00:16:07,237 --> 00:16:09,689
Christian, you can stand there and wonder...

415
00:16:09,689 --> 00:16:13,009
well, if I go hard after Jesus,

416
00:16:13,009 --> 00:16:14,542
am I going to find Him?

417
00:16:14,542 --> 00:16:16,861
He says to churches,

418
00:16:16,861 --> 00:16:20,431
"I stand at the door and knock."

419
00:16:20,431 --> 00:16:23,251
If you'll open.

420
00:16:23,251 --> 00:16:24,924
I'll come in and sup with you.

421
00:16:24,924 --> 00:16:25,920
You say what's that?

422
00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:27,340
I'll guarantee you this,

423
00:16:27,340 --> 00:16:30,320
it's worth having.

424
00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:32,459
"My beloved is knocking."

425
00:16:32,459 --> 00:16:33,940
You know he says?

426
00:16:33,940 --> 00:16:36,463
"Open to me, my sister, my love,

427
00:16:36,463 --> 00:16:38,933
my dove, my perfect one.

428
00:16:38,933 --> 00:16:40,784
For my head is wet with dew,

429
00:16:40,784 --> 00:16:43,028
my locks with the drops of the night.

430
00:16:43,028 --> 00:16:45,042
I'd put off my garment.

431
00:16:45,042 --> 00:16:46,760
How could I put it on?"

432
00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:48,536
That's what she's saying.

433
00:16:48,536 --> 00:16:51,099
"I bathed my feet, how could I soil them?

434
00:16:51,099 --> 00:16:53,605
My beloved put his hand to the latch.

435
00:16:53,605 --> 00:16:55,648
My heart was thrilled within me."

436
00:16:55,648 --> 00:16:57,989
and if you know the story,

437
00:16:57,989 --> 00:17:01,086
He left.

438
00:17:01,086 --> 00:17:02,849
She finally got up and she went over.

439
00:17:02,849 --> 00:17:04,476
You know with that,

440
00:17:04,476 --> 00:17:07,158
that's a picture right there.

441
00:17:07,158 --> 00:17:09,027
What happens?

442
00:17:09,027 --> 00:17:14,053
The Lord, my love, He's at the door.

443
00:17:14,053 --> 00:17:18,015
He's beckoning to me.

444
00:17:18,015 --> 00:17:20,827
Lord, not right now.

445
00:17:20,827 --> 00:17:23,162
I've got to check my email.

446
00:17:23,162 --> 00:17:24,958
Not right now.

447
00:17:24,958 --> 00:17:27,832
I'll get there though.

448
00:17:27,832 --> 00:17:29,281
Oh, you know my favorite show's on

449
00:17:29,281 --> 00:17:30,426
right now, Lord.

450
00:17:30,426 --> 00:17:33,225
Not just now.

451
00:17:33,225 --> 00:17:35,517
Oh, the guys are coming over, Lord.

452
00:17:35,517 --> 00:17:39,347
We need to hang out.

453
00:17:39,347 --> 00:17:44,062
Your Beloved is at the door.

454
00:17:44,062 --> 00:17:46,041
And we do the same thing.

455
00:17:46,041 --> 00:17:47,255
By the time she got up,

456
00:17:47,255 --> 00:17:50,090
by the time she got around to it,

457
00:17:50,090 --> 00:17:55,273
he was gone.

458
00:17:55,273 --> 00:18:02,011
If you have a heart,

459
00:18:02,011 --> 00:18:04,668
run when He beckons you.

460
00:18:04,668 --> 00:18:06,484
And He beckons you in the Word.

461
00:18:06,484 --> 00:18:07,373
Go there.

462
00:18:07,373 --> 00:18:08,512
You say can I find Him?

463
00:18:08,512 --> 00:18:09,440
You can find Him.

464
00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:10,785
If He says He's at that door

465
00:18:10,785 --> 00:18:12,386
and He's knocking,

466
00:18:12,386 --> 00:18:18,655
you say, what does it mean to let Him in?

467
00:18:18,655 --> 00:18:22,576
Oh folks,

468
00:18:22,576 --> 00:18:24,860
you're very familiar with what it is

469
00:18:24,860 --> 00:18:27,592
to keep Him out.

470
00:18:27,592 --> 00:18:30,259
We don't have to dig too deep

471
00:18:30,259 --> 00:18:33,377
to know what it is.

472
00:18:33,377 --> 00:18:35,623
There's a thousand things in this life

473
00:18:35,623 --> 00:18:38,081
that pull our hearts away,

474
00:18:38,081 --> 00:18:42,557
that pull us away from Him.

475
00:18:42,557 --> 00:18:45,641
There it is.

476
00:18:45,641 --> 00:18:48,153
Obey.

477
00:18:48,153 --> 00:18:50,399
Pray.

478
00:18:50,399 --> 00:18:52,743
He beckons you to come.

479
00:18:52,743 --> 00:18:56,052
He beckons you to open.

480
00:18:56,052 --> 00:19:00,305
Open.

481
00:19:00,305 --> 00:19:02,357
Well, there it is.

482
00:19:02,357 --> 00:19:05,369
There are my four.

483
00:19:05,369 --> 00:19:15,394
Let's pray.

484
00:19:15,394 --> 00:19:18,266
Father, teach us all

485
00:19:18,266 --> 00:19:24,829
what it is to open that door.

486
00:19:24,829 --> 00:19:26,601
I know not what else more

487
00:19:26,601 --> 00:19:27,758
to pray right now.

488
00:19:27,758 --> 00:19:30,787
Just teach us, Lord.

489
00:19:30,787 --> 00:19:33,099
Give us a generation of men and women

490
00:19:33,099 --> 00:19:36,354
that are quick to open that door.

491
00:19:36,354 --> 00:19:37,974
I pray in Christ's name,

492
00:19:37,974 --> 00:19:38,802
Amen.