Cultivating Intimacy with God through the Posture of Prayer

[Music] [Applause] [Music] how many are just glad you're in the presence of the Lord yeah there is something so wonderful and just even over this whole service I've just loved the worship and just being in the room and uh I want I really believe this year is the year that we're going to go a little deeper into our intimacy with the Lord now every year we should but I really feel an emphasis around that this year I'm so grateful for the corporate Gatherings I'm so glad we come together because there's nothing like it and yet at the same time God is inviting you to grow at two levels number one in the corporate anointing in the Gatherings where we meet but also you alone in the secret place you by yourself with the Lord do you know you can never have real intimacy unless you have Encounters in the secret place there there's something wonderful about coming together and you know the pandemic taught us to value that more than ever but today as we come around the word of the Lord here and wherever you are in the world I want to encourage you that the Lord I believe this year is inviting every one of us it's an invitation it's not compulsion it's an invitation to actually come closer to take a step closer to actually in your own walk with God you doesn't matter who your spouse is who your parents are who your connect leader is who your pastor is all of those things are wonderful and they make a big difference in your life but the intimacy you have with the Lord is between you and the Lord alone nobody else is going to be there next to you on the day you stand before him really the idea that you know him and he knows you is the most wonderful mindblowing invitation to every human being alive when I found out God could be known I didn't know that he I knew he was real I knew he was powerful I knew he was probably in the universe somewhere and one one day I'd have to work it out but the first time I heard a pastor talk about God like as if he had interaction with the Lord it just even as a young person it set off a bomb in me and I was so curious and and really my whole journey was about God I just want to know you he's been the only constant in my life everything else has changed seasons have changed profession has changed countries have changed Circles of friends have changed everything has changed but he's been the one constant and he will be the only one constant in your life so if there's one person worth getting to know it is the holy spirit of God Jesus said I'm going but I'm going to send someone else so father I thank you that someone else is here I thank you Holy Spirit you're here you're in the room you're online wherever people are hungry and leaning in so we just worship you we honor you thank you for your wonderful presence thank you for your wonderful glorious presence Lord I pray this would be a year that everyone goes a little deeper this would be a year where hunger for you Gres a little higher Lord my prayer is that this year our church wouldn't just grow larger it would grow nearer wouldn't just grow bigger it would grow closer and as a result Lord let more people get saved touched impacted healed father we thank you for your power to touch and change lives father I thank you in that place of intimacy there's greater Authority and I thank you that this word would make such a difference and it would actually be like a tasting plate to invite everybody a little deeper we pray in Jesus name and everyone said yeah go ahead and take your seats for a while give the Lord a hand of Praise if you're going to do that as well you know when people say oh I wish the message was a little deeper I went the worship went a bit longer I understand the feeling but church service is a tasting plate you meant to taste here and then go dine in the secret place it's the problem when people think that their entire meal is the corporate Gatherings when you get people complaining about church because church was never meant to fill all of those things it's meant to invite you into a space that gives you an appetite to go seek Him in private I don't know if you relate to God there might be people here today don't even know him and before the end of the service you're going to get a chance online wherever you are God loves you but he wants to know you you know thousands of people know me because they've heard my voice but the only people that I know are those whose voices I've heard God has heard your voice but have you heard his he said my sheep know my voice you're like oh no I don't think I know God you definitely have heard his voice because if you saved you responded to him and when you responded to him it was his voice drawing you even if you didn't recognize it but then from that moment of Salvation you've got to cultivate intimacy any relationship in your entire life the the more communication the deeper it goes the more honesty the more transparency the deeper it goes so the idea that God is a relationship that has to be developed and cultivated isn't foreign to all of us who understand how we interact with one another and so the real question is he is he the most primary relationship in your life I think the best title for this message is sounds a bit long but it'll make the point so if you don't you're taking notes you can write but it's so long you might as well screenshot it says cultivate ating intimacy with God through the posture of prayer I want to talk for a few minutes on cultivating intimacy with God through the posture of prayer I've spoken on praying in the spirit it's one of the best things you could do I've spoken about corporate prayer it's one of the best things you can do I've spoken many messages on prayer but I don't think I've ever spoken on the posture of prayer like I'm am going to share right now and it comes from the same passage where Jesus taught us where he was unusually procedural in giving us instruction that we think wouldn't matter and it's where he taught us the Lord's Prayer which is really our prayer because he taught us to pray and the passage of scripture goes like this Jesus speaking to a whole group of his own followers he taught them about giving he taught them about charitable acts he taught them about fasting and in the middle of all of Matthew 6 there's this passage where he's talking about prayer and he says but when you pray you when you pray When you pray not if you pray not tell those who Pray when which meaning it's a question of time you which means you can't delegate it pray go into your room it's like a parent go into your room shut your door when you shut your door pray to your father who is in the secret place if you want to know where to find God that's where he is I can't find God look in the secret place that's where he is and your father who sees in secret will reward you openly and when you pray do not use vain repetition as the Heathen do for they think that they will be heard for their many words therefore he says don't be like them isn't it sad that religious people can serve as a modelist to what not to do and Jesus is saying in case you've heard those people pray that's how not to pray he says for your father knows the things you have need of before you even ask him and he said in this manner therefore pray our father in in heaven Hallowed Be Your Name Your Kingdom Come your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and do not lead us into temptation but Deliver Us from the evil one for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and the church said amen the the challenge with this passage is not to see the Lord's Prayer as something you need to repeat Jesus did not say repeat these words after me he said in this manner therefore pray but a lot of us and it's good thing like we do at our services before we start at the start of the service we have the Lord's Prayer and people it's declared out our Father in heaven Hallowed be your name and it's it's amazing growing up in a Christian home we were taught the Lord's Prayer we memorized the Lord's Prayer it became the prayer we prayed at the end of someone else's prayer and we just learned it off by heart my brother didn't learn it well so my dad made him write it out many times times and the idea is that there was something magical about this prayer this is a powerful prayer I encourage you to pray the prayer read the prayer declare the prayer but it's not words to repeat it's a template he said in this manner therefore pray Our Father in Heaven I remember growing up as a child we just wanted to get through the prayer really fast so we me and my siblings had a competition of who could sa the fastest Our Father in Heaven be your name your kingom your will be done daily bre father glor amen was like a race and clearly there was no heart or meaning behind it it was just a root prayer but intimacy with God does not come from repeating this prayer it comes from the posture that Jesus talked about before he taught us the prayer and just in those few verses that sound unusually procedural Jesus gives us some insight into if you really want to be intimate with the Lord remember the context is building intimacy with the Lord cultivating intimacy with the Lord through the posture of prayer you know people like who wants to be more intimate with the Lord everyone who loves the Lord would put their hand up and here's the thing what does that mean God I want to be intimate with you God be closer to me amen what does it mean you can actually cultivate this intimacy through not just repeating the Lord's Prayer but the posture of prayer and look at what the Lord said himself he gave us detailed instructions but really let's extract principles of what he really meant through his will when what we just read number one if you're going to develop intimacy with the Lord you need to be intentional about it everyone say intentional look at your neighbor say be intentional be intentional you cannot accidentally develop intimacy if you're going to have a depth of relationship with God it's not going to happen by chance squeezing him in the shower 2 minutes in between appointments 3 minutes before you go to bed intimacy with anybody any level of depth of relationship is going to require intention if there's no intention in your relationship there's no Intimacy in it there's no depth without intention see the problem is we actually hope for intimacy rather than go after it Jesus says when you pray go into your room it's like a father telling a son of go into your room meaning actually actively make the space now if you thinking I don't really have a room I have roommates I have housemates I don't really it's not the room it's the space it's the intention behind if I'm going to pray go into my room go into that place make time 2024 make it the year you choose to craft out intentional time with the Lord not just with your connect group not just at gpn not just on Sundays not just with others you and the Lord alone not just with your pastor your friend you and the Lord alone your intimacy with God cannot grow unless you are intentional about it decide I'm going to this next half an hour I'm going to go I'm going to I'm going to go for a walk or I'm going to go for a drive I'm going to go by myself or I'm going to go into my room I'm going to go into my closet whatever that means for you craft and create the time if God is a priority intimacy will be the byproduct but those who just get swept along and in a church like I is easy because of the wonderful things God is doing where you see the the the the numbers and the crowds and you can the worship is moving the presence of God is there you're drawn and it's wonderful but it's an invitation to say now as a result I'm going to craft intentional time I just need some time with the Lord me and him alone everyone say be intentional number two be focused be focused he said go into your room and when you have shut your door I mean this is Jesus really I mean how specific do you must you be go into your room all right this looks like a good room the drum drummer has his own room here it's my room I'm in my room he goes now go shut the door really Lord you have to tell us to close the door there's something about time with the Lord that needs to not just be intentional it needs to be focused which means shut the door like you if you don't have a room you probably don't have a door so don't take him literally what the Lord means is make sure your time with him is intentional and also not undistracted be focused and in 2024 this is literally what the modern passage should say and when it's time for your time with God turn off your phone anyone over 30 anyone over 40 anyone remember life before Motorola or whatever the phones were back then what was the phones back then Nokia Blackberry flip phones whatever before that a whole generation lived in fact worlds have lived so you can turn your phone off for now airplane mode and just have time with the Lord in other words your intention is wasted if it's not focused make sure your time is in the room active and shut the door undistracted number three make sure it's unashamed you know he says says pray to your father who's in the secret place the secret place is the most wonderful place to be because there's nobody else there is you and the Lord and you know if you're going to if you're going to cultivate intimacy with God through the posture of prayer it needs to be intentional everyone say intentional everyone say intentional say Focus focused but number three unashamed I love this word because it describes what it truly means to be in the secret place for me anyway it does for me alone in the secret place with the Lord is the most vulnerable I can be in the entirety of my life because God knows everything you're going through anyway so you don't need to be conscious I'm very conscious when I'm in front of people people find that hard to believe but I'm very conscious you know when I see the team dance and I see Sam and Melly and all the guys move and I go that's amazing I can't do that anyone else can't dance raise your hand if you're lying some of you can't dance you just don't know it no one's ever told you you need some friends who can tell you the truth you can't dance but you can move so move before the Lord and you know move your legs and move your hips and raise your hands but but I mean like really dance like these guys and here's the thing so I don't blame you if you're a bit shy in church but in the presence of the Lord when you're by yourself you know I remember there was seasons in my life where when I'm with the Lord I will do things in private that I'll never do in public I will have dance moves that you have not seen no eye has seen no ear has heard no mind has conceived what I come up with in private because and you know and I do so I do I do it for you now but that's the that ruined the whole point it's reserve for the secret place and I would I would you know I would crack myself up because I remember there were times in the house I GRE up and there was a mirror the Wardrobe was a mirror and I'd just be lost in in worship or praise and I'd be jumping dancing doing moves that I'm you know I'm not going to do now but I was feeling you know as I do it and then I'd turn and look and I'd see myself in the mirror and I'd crack myself up laughing I go you are so embarrassing don't do that but then I realized you're in the secret place when you're in the secret place you can be totally unashamed and I don't just mean dancing I mean with everything in your life see normally with people you're measured if you did bad things you're not going to probably go to your Earthly father and go excuse me father I'd like to have a coffee with you these are the seven things I'm struggling with in my life right now if you're an Asian you know exactly what I'm talking about you're not doing that to your Earthly father but to your heavenly father that's exactly what you should do un ashamed because when you come into the presence of the Lord see normally when you you know some people talk to God like they're talking to their High School principal or their Uncle who's about to tell them off uh and you really what you're doing is you're saying things in a way that keeps what you don't want them to see away from them and some people pray like that too oh Lord like hope he doesn't understand he knows the everything so just come before him unashamed come before him see the secret place is where God is that people like I just want to find God I'll tell you where he is in the secret place you don't have to go to bethl to find him or IHOP you don't have to go to some big church you don't even have to come to this aitor him he's in the secret place he's in the secret place pray to your father who is in he is in the secret place and you know in that place I want to invite you this year 2024 be unashamed be unashamed in your time with the Lord Lord I'm wrestling with this I'm struggling with that this addiction is taken over My Heart Lord I don't know how to say it but this is it just tell him he knows anyway the thing about the Holy Spirit he wants to be your best friend he wants to be your closest Confidant and he's not put off most people who are close to you here's the challenge some sometimes we are scared to be vulnerable because if people really knew what we were like they wouldn't like me God loves you and he knows every single thought about you The Good the Bad and the Ugly is that not an intimacy worth pursuing is that not an intimacy worth pursuing make this the year that you say God I want to be so tight with you I want to walk with you I want to talk with you I want to hear your voice I want you to hear my voice and I want to engage with your presence in a way that is so unashamed I'm intentional I'm Focus see Focus even in church sometimes people find it hard in a sermon they're on their phone they distracted just for a second even online multitasking just for a second stop and focus I love you Holy Spirit I thank you for your presence in my life I need you and you know the the the the that sense of being unashamed is so liberating the minute you go out of the secret place you better put your clothes back on and I don't mean you need to be fake with people but there's filters and there's measures but in the secret place you can be unashamed cuz he sees right through the Fig leaves you have sown to cover up your shame and your nakedness God knows the whole thing and he still loves you so just come to him as you are weak broken struggling frail fearful and know that the Holy Spirit still loves you and he still wants intimate communion with you then Jesus goes on before he gets to the Lord Prayer he he he talks about don't be like the Heathen don't use vain repetitions here's the point if you're going to develop intimacy with the Lord just be simple can I encourage you be simple I don't mean be silly be simple simple simply means I I'm not looking for convoluted he says vain repetition some people pray and I got to be honest sometimes I got caught in this Rhythm I pray more conscious of the people that are hearing my prayer than the God I'm praying to is this just me or you some some you know if if you're praying with friends you pray a certain way praying with the uncle who's a oh you you add flowery words oh Heavenly Father Thou Art magnanimous Beyond description and I thank you God that in the in in in thy surrender to the ubiquitous nature of thy indistinguishable and indivisible traits that certainly transcend all the vicissitudes that I may feel and struggle through life I I beseech you I I I bring my petitions humbly before thy holy throne of grace where I can find Mercy and help and I thank you oh God that you are able to do exceedingly just say Lord I need some help but we're praying sometimes you know Jesus said don't be like the Heathen that they they pray with lots of words oh Heavenly Jesus father God who is Heavenly Jesus father God who's that Heavenly Jesus father God I mean I suppose you're speaking roughly to the same guy but oh Father God Jesus Holy Spirit which one are you talking to oh Father God father God father father father yeah he heard you the first time just breathe and in the secret place you can be just as you are God I need your I've always needed your help as a child I needed you as a teenager I needed you as a young adult I need you now I need you in every stage I need you and you know we would just be the church that comes before him simply or even right where you are just open your hands I need you oh I need you every every I [Music] need my I love you Lord I rightous oh God how I need you I need you tell him Lord I need you oh I need you every I need you my one defense by right whatever you're going oh whatever you're going through let him behind the walls tell him you need Lord I need you oh I need I need you every are every are I need you my defense [Music] my oh God how I [Music] you tell them you're all I want You're All I've Ever Needed you're all I want help me know you are need help me know you are need his presence is here you're all I want you're all I [Music] want You're All I've Ever Needed you're all I want help me know you are help me know you are near I need you Lord I need you oh I need you every I need you my one defense my rightous [Music] oh God I sing it again then tell him I need you oh I need every hour of I need [Applause] you I need his glorious presence you de he feel my [Music] rightous no matter who your enemy is no matter what you're wrestling with he's your Wonder defense he's your righteousness defense that's it my [Music] rightous oh God how I yes you are Lord he's your Wonder defense and your righteousness he he's your Ro he's your C my defense by right that's it my defense you are my God oh God I you know one of the most wonderful truths about the Holy Spirit is he's not put off by the things that have kept you away he's not repelled people are scared of The God Who said he'll never leave you he'll never forsake you you might have left him you might have forsaken him but he will never leave you he will never forsake you so all he needs you to do is turn around today and say Lord in 2024 I'm intentional Lord the time with you will be focused I'm not going to throw you in on the back end of everything else it's going to be me and you it's going to be me and you it's going to be me and you you know there's a depth to the Lord that some of you are going to f and fine this year that you've never had before and just like in the natural before you got married you'd hang out in groups but if it was ever to go any further you'd have to leave the group and start to connect oneon-one there's something about intimacy with the Lord he's so glad you're in church today he's so glad you're singing with all of us today but I wonder if in 2024 we're going to intentionally focus and say God I'm not going to hide behind all the busyness and the things but I want to yield I want to be unashamed I want to be simple you know and lastly if you're going to build intimacy with God can I encourage you you know the more the closer you are to in any relationship the more relational you are it's not transactional it's not circumstantial it's relational it's relational he says don't be like the Hypocrites with their words he says your father knows your needs before you ask him and I thought to myself Lord if you know everything about me The Good the Bad and the Ugly you know the whole lot you know the complexities you know the fears the tears the issues if you know it all why do I still talk you know the Lord sees the beginning of your life and the end of your life in the same frame because he's not in time he's in eternity he can see every decision every season every change every good point High Point low point he can see it already he knows how this thing will end for you and so that God that father that father's in the secret place and he says come go deeper with me this year go closer with me this year I want more of you and you're like Lord but if you know everything why would I talk what's there to say you don't know and that's because so many of us see God transactionally lord I need this I need that no I need you you know I was playing with the with Ariel Josh and joy our kids passed their little baby yesterday at Youth and I was holding her and I said to her she's only less than two I said where's your daddy and his dad was on stage and she goes there I didn't ask her where's your daddy cuz I was looking for information I asked it cuz I was looking for engagement your father does not want information from you cuz he knows your needs before you ask him he's saying will you just talk with me will you just walk with me say Lord I don't know what to do but I know you won't leave me I know you'll carry me through this season I know you'll take me you brought me through worst you can bring me to my future Lord help me to see you help me to hear you God is a relational God and he wants your conversation he wants your interaction he wants to speak to you he wants to speak through you he's a good God and he's for [Music] you and I want to this year this is this is the Simplicity of today's message online and in the room Jeremiah 29 says 13 if you if you seek me you will find me if you seek me with all your heart God is not hiding from you he's is just waiting for you God is Not removed from your view he's not scared by the things that you think he can't he knows anyway so just let him in this year go for a walk take a closer walk with the Lord this year decide to go into your room and shut your door and pray to your father who's in the secret place talk to him openly talk to him simply if you would seek me with all your heart you will find me you know the this Jesus said ask and you'll receive seek and you'll find and there might be people here today saying yeah but Pastor I've SE nothing was there I've looked didn't find anything I came to church 3 weeks I tried tithing no nothing happened I tried serving I tried connect group see the problem is to seek does not describe how you seek if I lost 10 cents I would seek 10 cents I would look oh where did I drop that 10 cents oh there oh and if I can't find it I'll move on with my life well I tried that's how most of us would be cuz 10 cents is not worth much but I'm seeking I just can't find but if I lost a million dollar check say it was a cash check for $1 million that means Whoever has that check has the access to $1 million if I lose that cash check how many realize I'm not going to go oh oh I lost it never mind oh I will still be seeking but this kind of seeking will be a different kind of seeking if I lost a $1 million cash check right here we are locking the doors nobody's leaving the room we are going to turn this place upside down we'll rip the stage we'll rip the carpet why in both cases I'm seeking I'm seeking 10 cents and I'm seeking a million dollars but the way I seek is very different because of the value I place on what I'm seeking some of us seek the Lord like we seek a lost 10cent coin and wonder why we've never found him and God says if you seek me you will find me if you search for me with all of my heart I wonder if in 2024 we will worship God like he's not 10 cents we will praise God like he's not a lost 10 cent coin why don't you place a value that is higher than Earthly value and decide right now that this is the year I'm going to go I'm going to go and shut my door I'm going to pray to my father who's in the secret place this is the year you're going to encounter the Lord so come on I invite you right now let's worship him like he's not 10 cents worship him like he's the Prince of Peace meet me in the sto I'm crying you quiet all the noise where I sh the door me me in the head meet me here thank you Lord me here [Music] again you're everything meet me in the chaos meet me in the storm you quiet all the noise when I shut the door it's not near I dra it to you you dra near to me as I look upon you my heart as I let's take a step closer as I it to you you drawn it to me as I look upon you come fromont to the he's your speak the Lord with all your heart as I look you my heart as I join iin you you join secret place today taste and see that the Lord is good I love you Holy Spirit I love you Holy Spirit I love I love for more of you your presence your pres me deer how I love how I love more come on express it use your words I love you I love you holy SP I love I love more of you your presence hold me how I love I for more of you in a minute in a minute Pastor Paul will come up and he's going to give you an invitation see the the kingdom is not compulsion it's always persuasion the spirit of God tugging on your heart saying leave that life of Independence and come follow me or there will be challenges but I'll be with you I'll never leave you I'll never forsake you in the good times in the bad times in the hard times and the struggling times I am not quitting on you see the problem is some of us have had relationships where people have quit on you the Lord will never quit on you he won't quit on you if you keep drawing near to him he's not put off by your issues he's not put off by your vulnerabilities he's not put off by your struggles just come simply come relationally but come intentionally come focused come unashamed come into His presence and the taste you have right here that's just the lord it's his it's his drawing that is available for you whenever you want it if you just wouldn't add him to the bottom of your list if you wouldn't add him in between appointments or just in small moments but you will say God 2024 I want to cultivate an intimacy with you Jesus I come as I am and I acknowledge my need for you I acknowledge my need for you you know that's you and and you just can you know I thought about this and I thought why am I scared to make a vow it's because I'm scared I'll break it but in your heart of hearts if you're like God this year I'm not going to get it right all the time but I want you to be my priority I want you to be my highest goal my most Magnificent Obsession I want you to be the the object of my attention and my affection I want to be close to you it doesn't matter how old you are how young you are how long you've been a Christian how long you've been a church if that's you all you need to do is be intentional come focused unashamed simply relationally he will not reject you that's you I just want you to lift your hands to the Lord yeah he's drawing he's drawing you he's drawing you yeah I've been waiting I've been waiting for you I've gone nowhere I've never gone anywhere seek me you'll find me I'm in the secret place I'm there I'm there I never left I never left I never left so father I'm praying God that as we lift our hands towards you it would be a vow of ss I know you are faithful even when we're not I know you are a covenant keeping God even when we're not but God let us not be scared of declaring Our intention to be focused and unashamed to come simply relationally into your presence we declare our need for you I don't come with my list I don't come to impress you I don't come to talk about what I've done come as I am cuz I want more of you I want more of you I want more of you sing I need you I need you oh I need you every I need you my one defense [Music] myness oh God I need you tell him you need him Lord I need you oh I need you every I need you my one defense my oh God how I need one more time from the front to the back from the left to the right Lord I need you oh let a church let a Hungry Church let a church long for more of his presence my defense my [Music] rightous oh God how I need you Lord I need you Lord I need you oh I need you [Applause] every I need you my Wonder def my righteousness my rightousness God let the walls come down let the walls come down this year I [Music] you you every I need you that's it my want God my God oh God I my Wonder My righteousness you are my defense my my my defense my rightous my one defense my want [Applause] defense [Music] I [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

[Music] [Applause] [Music] how many are just glad you&#39;re in the presence of the Lord yeah there is something so wonderful and just even over this whole service I&#39;ve just loved the worship and just being in the room and uh I want I really believe this year is the year that we&#39;re going to go a little deeper into our intimacy with the Lord now every year we should but I really feel an emphasis around that this year I&#39;m so grateful for the corporate Gatherings I&#39;m so glad we come together because there&#39;s nothing like it and yet at the same time God is inviting you to grow at two levels number one in the corporate anointing in the Gatherings where we meet but also you alone in the secret place you by yourself with the Lord do you know you can never have real intimacy unless you have Encounters in the secret place there there&#39;s something wonderful about coming together and you know the pandemic taught us to value that more than ever but today as we come around the word of the Lord here and wherever you are in the world I want to encourage you that the Lord I believe this year is inviting every one of us it&#39;s an invitation it&#39;s not compulsion it&#39;s an invitation to actually come closer to take a step closer to actually in your own walk with God you doesn&#39;t matter who your spouse is who your parents are who your connect leader is who your pastor is all of those things are wonderful and they make a big difference in your life but the intimacy you have with the Lord is between you and the Lord alone nobody else is going to be there next to you on the day you stand before him really the idea that you know him and he knows you is the most wonderful mindblowing invitation to every human being alive when I found out God could be known I didn&#39;t know that he I knew he was real I knew he was powerful I knew he was probably in the universe somewhere and one one day I&#39;d have to work it out but the first time I heard a pastor talk about God like as if he had interaction with the Lord it just even as a young person it set off a bomb in me and I was so curious and and really my whole journey was about God I just want to know you he&#39;s been the only constant in my life everything else has changed seasons have changed profession has changed countries have changed Circles of friends have changed everything has changed but he&#39;s been the one constant and he will be the only one constant in your life so if there&#39;s one person worth getting to know it is the holy spirit of God Jesus said I&#39;m going but I&#39;m going to send someone else so father I thank you that someone else is here I thank you Holy Spirit you&#39;re here you&#39;re in the room you&#39;re online wherever people are hungry and leaning in so we just worship you we honor you thank you for your wonderful presence thank you for your wonderful glorious presence Lord I pray this would be a year that everyone goes a little deeper this would be a year where hunger for you Gres a little higher Lord my prayer is that this year our church wouldn&#39;t just grow larger it would grow nearer wouldn&#39;t just grow bigger it would grow closer and as a result Lord let more people get saved touched impacted healed father we thank you for your power to touch and change lives father I thank you in that place of intimacy there&#39;s greater Authority and I thank you that this word would make such a difference and it would actually be like a tasting plate to invite everybody a little deeper we pray in Jesus name and everyone said yeah go ahead and take your seats for a while give the Lord a hand of Praise if you&#39;re going to do that as well you know when people say oh I wish the message was a little deeper I went the worship went a bit longer I understand the feeling but church service is a tasting plate you meant to taste here and then go dine in the secret place it&#39;s the problem when people think that their entire meal is the corporate Gatherings when you get people complaining about church because church was never meant to fill all of those things it&#39;s meant to invite you into a space that gives you an appetite to go seek Him in private I don&#39;t know if you relate to God there might be people here today don&#39;t even know him and before the end of the service you&#39;re going to get a chance online wherever you are God loves you but he wants to know you you know thousands of people know me because they&#39;ve heard my voice but the only people that I know are those whose voices I&#39;ve heard God has heard your voice but have you heard his he said my sheep know my voice you&#39;re like oh no I don&#39;t think I know God you definitely have heard his voice because if you saved you responded to him and when you responded to him it was his voice drawing you even if you didn&#39;t recognize it but then from that moment of Salvation you&#39;ve got to cultivate intimacy any relationship in your entire life the the more communication the deeper it goes the more honesty the more transparency the deeper it goes so the idea that God is a relationship that has to be developed and cultivated isn&#39;t foreign to all of us who understand how we interact with one another and so the real question is he is he the most primary relationship in your life I think the best title for this message is sounds a bit long but it&#39;ll make the point so if you don&#39;t you&#39;re taking notes you can write but it&#39;s so long you might as well screenshot it says cultivate ating intimacy with God through the posture of prayer I want to talk for a few minutes on cultivating intimacy with God through the posture of prayer I&#39;ve spoken on praying in the spirit it&#39;s one of the best things you could do I&#39;ve spoken about corporate prayer it&#39;s one of the best things you can do I&#39;ve spoken many messages on prayer but I don&#39;t think I&#39;ve ever spoken on the posture of prayer like I&#39;m am going to share right now and it comes from the same passage where Jesus taught us where he was unusually procedural in giving us instruction that we think wouldn&#39;t matter and it&#39;s where he taught us the Lord&#39;s Prayer which is really our prayer because he taught us to pray and the passage of scripture goes like this Jesus speaking to a whole group of his own followers he taught them about giving he taught them about charitable acts he taught them about fasting and in the middle of all of Matthew 6 there&#39;s this passage where he&#39;s talking about prayer and he says but when you pray you when you pray When you pray not if you pray not tell those who Pray when which meaning it&#39;s a question of time you which means you can&#39;t delegate it pray go into your room it&#39;s like a parent go into your room shut your door when you shut your door pray to your father who is in the secret place if you want to know where to find God that&#39;s where he is I can&#39;t find God look in the secret place that&#39;s where he is and your father who sees in secret will reward you openly and when you pray do not use vain repetition as the Heathen do for they think that they will be heard for their many words therefore he says don&#39;t be like them isn&#39;t it sad that religious people can serve as a modelist to what not to do and Jesus is saying in case you&#39;ve heard those people pray that&#39;s how not to pray he says for your father knows the things you have need of before you even ask him and he said in this manner therefore pray our father in in heaven Hallowed Be Your Name Your Kingdom Come your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and do not lead us into temptation but Deliver Us from the evil one for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and the church said amen the the challenge with this passage is not to see the Lord&#39;s Prayer as something you need to repeat Jesus did not say repeat these words after me he said in this manner therefore pray but a lot of us and it&#39;s good thing like we do at our services before we start at the start of the service we have the Lord&#39;s Prayer and people it&#39;s declared out our Father in heaven Hallowed be your name and it&#39;s it&#39;s amazing growing up in a Christian home we were taught the Lord&#39;s Prayer we memorized the Lord&#39;s Prayer it became the prayer we prayed at the end of someone else&#39;s prayer and we just learned it off by heart my brother didn&#39;t learn it well so my dad made him write it out many times times and the idea is that there was something magical about this prayer this is a powerful prayer I encourage you to pray the prayer read the prayer declare the prayer but it&#39;s not words to repeat it&#39;s a template he said in this manner therefore pray Our Father in Heaven I remember growing up as a child we just wanted to get through the prayer really fast so we me and my siblings had a competition of who could sa the fastest Our Father in Heaven be your name your kingom your will be done daily bre father glor amen was like a race and clearly there was no heart or meaning behind it it was just a root prayer but intimacy with God does not come from repeating this prayer it comes from the posture that Jesus talked about before he taught us the prayer and just in those few verses that sound unusually procedural Jesus gives us some insight into if you really want to be intimate with the Lord remember the context is building intimacy with the Lord cultivating intimacy with the Lord through the posture of prayer you know people like who wants to be more intimate with the Lord everyone who loves the Lord would put their hand up and here&#39;s the thing what does that mean God I want to be intimate with you God be closer to me amen what does it mean you can actually cultivate this intimacy through not just repeating the Lord&#39;s Prayer but the posture of prayer and look at what the Lord said himself he gave us detailed instructions but really let&#39;s extract principles of what he really meant through his will when what we just read number one if you&#39;re going to develop intimacy with the Lord you need to be intentional about it everyone say intentional look at your neighbor say be intentional be intentional you cannot accidentally develop intimacy if you&#39;re going to have a depth of relationship with God it&#39;s not going to happen by chance squeezing him in the shower 2 minutes in between appointments 3 minutes before you go to bed intimacy with anybody any level of depth of relationship is going to require intention if there&#39;s no intention in your relationship there&#39;s no Intimacy in it there&#39;s no depth without intention see the problem is we actually hope for intimacy rather than go after it Jesus says when you pray go into your room it&#39;s like a father telling a son of go into your room meaning actually actively make the space now if you thinking I don&#39;t really have a room I have roommates I have housemates I don&#39;t really it&#39;s not the room it&#39;s the space it&#39;s the intention behind if I&#39;m going to pray go into my room go into that place make time 2024 make it the year you choose to craft out intentional time with the Lord not just with your connect group not just at gpn not just on Sundays not just with others you and the Lord alone not just with your pastor your friend you and the Lord alone your intimacy with God cannot grow unless you are intentional about it decide I&#39;m going to this next half an hour I&#39;m going to go I&#39;m going to I&#39;m going to go for a walk or I&#39;m going to go for a drive I&#39;m going to go by myself or I&#39;m going to go into my room I&#39;m going to go into my closet whatever that means for you craft and create the time if God is a priority intimacy will be the byproduct but those who just get swept along and in a church like I is easy because of the wonderful things God is doing where you see the the the the numbers and the crowds and you can the worship is moving the presence of God is there you&#39;re drawn and it&#39;s wonderful but it&#39;s an invitation to say now as a result I&#39;m going to craft intentional time I just need some time with the Lord me and him alone everyone say be intentional number two be focused be focused he said go into your room and when you have shut your door I mean this is Jesus really I mean how specific do you must you be go into your room all right this looks like a good room the drum drummer has his own room here it&#39;s my room I&#39;m in my room he goes now go shut the door really Lord you have to tell us to close the door there&#39;s something about time with the Lord that needs to not just be intentional it needs to be focused which means shut the door like you if you don&#39;t have a room you probably don&#39;t have a door so don&#39;t take him literally what the Lord means is make sure your time with him is intentional and also not undistracted be focused and in 2024 this is literally what the modern passage should say and when it&#39;s time for your time with God turn off your phone anyone over 30 anyone over 40 anyone remember life before Motorola or whatever the phones were back then what was the phones back then Nokia Blackberry flip phones whatever before that a whole generation lived in fact worlds have lived so you can turn your phone off for now airplane mode and just have time with the Lord in other words your intention is wasted if it&#39;s not focused make sure your time is in the room active and shut the door undistracted number three make sure it&#39;s unashamed you know he says says pray to your father who&#39;s in the secret place the secret place is the most wonderful place to be because there&#39;s nobody else there is you and the Lord and you know if you&#39;re going to if you&#39;re going to cultivate intimacy with God through the posture of prayer it needs to be intentional everyone say intentional everyone say intentional say Focus focused but number three unashamed I love this word because it describes what it truly means to be in the secret place for me anyway it does for me alone in the secret place with the Lord is the most vulnerable I can be in the entirety of my life because God knows everything you&#39;re going through anyway so you don&#39;t need to be conscious I&#39;m very conscious when I&#39;m in front of people people find that hard to believe but I&#39;m very conscious you know when I see the team dance and I see Sam and Melly and all the guys move and I go that&#39;s amazing I can&#39;t do that anyone else can&#39;t dance raise your hand if you&#39;re lying some of you can&#39;t dance you just don&#39;t know it no one&#39;s ever told you you need some friends who can tell you the truth you can&#39;t dance but you can move so move before the Lord and you know move your legs and move your hips and raise your hands but but I mean like really dance like these guys and here&#39;s the thing so I don&#39;t blame you if you&#39;re a bit shy in church but in the presence of the Lord when you&#39;re by yourself you know I remember there was seasons in my life where when I&#39;m with the Lord I will do things in private that I&#39;ll never do in public I will have dance moves that you have not seen no eye has seen no ear has heard no mind has conceived what I come up with in private because and you know and I do so I do I do it for you now but that&#39;s the that ruined the whole point it&#39;s reserve for the secret place and I would I would you know I would crack myself up because I remember there were times in the house I GRE up and there was a mirror the Wardrobe was a mirror and I&#39;d just be lost in in worship or praise and I&#39;d be jumping dancing doing moves that I&#39;m you know I&#39;m not going to do now but I was feeling you know as I do it and then I&#39;d turn and look and I&#39;d see myself in the mirror and I&#39;d crack myself up laughing I go you are so embarrassing don&#39;t do that but then I realized you&#39;re in the secret place when you&#39;re in the secret place you can be totally unashamed and I don&#39;t just mean dancing I mean with everything in your life see normally with people you&#39;re measured if you did bad things you&#39;re not going to probably go to your Earthly father and go excuse me father I&#39;d like to have a coffee with you these are the seven things I&#39;m struggling with in my life right now if you&#39;re an Asian you know exactly what I&#39;m talking about you&#39;re not doing that to your Earthly father but to your heavenly father that&#39;s exactly what you should do un ashamed because when you come into the presence of the Lord see normally when you you know some people talk to God like they&#39;re talking to their High School principal or their Uncle who&#39;s about to tell them off uh and you really what you&#39;re doing is you&#39;re saying things in a way that keeps what you don&#39;t want them to see away from them and some people pray like that too oh Lord like hope he doesn&#39;t understand he knows the everything so just come before him unashamed come before him see the secret place is where God is that people like I just want to find God I&#39;ll tell you where he is in the secret place you don&#39;t have to go to bethl to find him or IHOP you don&#39;t have to go to some big church you don&#39;t even have to come to this aitor him he&#39;s in the secret place he&#39;s in the secret place pray to your father who is in he is in the secret place and you know in that place I want to invite you this year 2024 be unashamed be unashamed in your time with the Lord Lord I&#39;m wrestling with this I&#39;m struggling with that this addiction is taken over My Heart Lord I don&#39;t know how to say it but this is it just tell him he knows anyway the thing about the Holy Spirit he wants to be your best friend he wants to be your closest Confidant and he&#39;s not put off most people who are close to you here&#39;s the challenge some sometimes we are scared to be vulnerable because if people really knew what we were like they wouldn&#39;t like me God loves you and he knows every single thought about you The Good the Bad and the Ugly is that not an intimacy worth pursuing is that not an intimacy worth pursuing make this the year that you say God I want to be so tight with you I want to walk with you I want to talk with you I want to hear your voice I want you to hear my voice and I want to engage with your presence in a way that is so unashamed I&#39;m intentional I&#39;m Focus see Focus even in church sometimes people find it hard in a sermon they&#39;re on their phone they distracted just for a second even online multitasking just for a second stop and focus I love you Holy Spirit I thank you for your presence in my life I need you and you know the the the the that sense of being unashamed is so liberating the minute you go out of the secret place you better put your clothes back on and I don&#39;t mean you need to be fake with people but there&#39;s filters and there&#39;s measures but in the secret place you can be unashamed cuz he sees right through the Fig leaves you have sown to cover up your shame and your nakedness God knows the whole thing and he still loves you so just come to him as you are weak broken struggling frail fearful and know that the Holy Spirit still loves you and he still wants intimate communion with you then Jesus goes on before he gets to the Lord Prayer he he he talks about don&#39;t be like the Heathen don&#39;t use vain repetitions here&#39;s the point if you&#39;re going to develop intimacy with the Lord just be simple can I encourage you be simple I don&#39;t mean be silly be simple simple simply means I I&#39;m not looking for convoluted he says vain repetition some people pray and I got to be honest sometimes I got caught in this Rhythm I pray more conscious of the people that are hearing my prayer than the God I&#39;m praying to is this just me or you some some you know if if you&#39;re praying with friends you pray a certain way praying with the uncle who&#39;s a oh you you add flowery words oh Heavenly Father Thou Art magnanimous Beyond description and I thank you God that in the in in in thy surrender to the ubiquitous nature of thy indistinguishable and indivisible traits that certainly transcend all the vicissitudes that I may feel and struggle through life I I beseech you I I I bring my petitions humbly before thy holy throne of grace where I can find Mercy and help and I thank you oh God that you are able to do exceedingly just say Lord I need some help but we&#39;re praying sometimes you know Jesus said don&#39;t be like the Heathen that they they pray with lots of words oh Heavenly Jesus father God who is Heavenly Jesus father God who&#39;s that Heavenly Jesus father God I mean I suppose you&#39;re speaking roughly to the same guy but oh Father God Jesus Holy Spirit which one are you talking to oh Father God father God father father father yeah he heard you the first time just breathe and in the secret place you can be just as you are God I need your I&#39;ve always needed your help as a child I needed you as a teenager I needed you as a young adult I need you now I need you in every stage I need you and you know we would just be the church that comes before him simply or even right where you are just open your hands I need you oh I need you every every I [Music] need my I love you Lord I rightous oh God how I need you I need you tell him Lord I need you oh I need you every I need you my one defense by right whatever you&#39;re going oh whatever you&#39;re going through let him behind the walls tell him you need Lord I need you oh I need I need you every are every are I need you my defense [Music] my oh God how I [Music] you tell them you&#39;re all I want You&#39;re All I&#39;ve Ever Needed you&#39;re all I want help me know you are need help me know you are need his presence is here you&#39;re all I want you&#39;re all I [Music] want You&#39;re All I&#39;ve Ever Needed you&#39;re all I want help me know you are help me know you are near I need you Lord I need you oh I need you every I need you my one defense my rightous [Music] oh God I sing it again then tell him I need you oh I need every hour of I need [Applause] you I need his glorious presence you de he feel my [Music] rightous no matter who your enemy is no matter what you&#39;re wrestling with he&#39;s your Wonder defense he&#39;s your righteousness defense that&#39;s it my [Music] rightous oh God how I yes you are Lord he&#39;s your Wonder defense and your righteousness he he&#39;s your Ro he&#39;s your C my defense by right that&#39;s it my defense you are my God oh God I you know one of the most wonderful truths about the Holy Spirit is he&#39;s not put off by the things that have kept you away he&#39;s not repelled people are scared of The God Who said he&#39;ll never leave you he&#39;ll never forsake you you might have left him you might have forsaken him but he will never leave you he will never forsake you so all he needs you to do is turn around today and say Lord in 2024 I&#39;m intentional Lord the time with you will be focused I&#39;m not going to throw you in on the back end of everything else it&#39;s going to be me and you it&#39;s going to be me and you it&#39;s going to be me and you you know there&#39;s a depth to the Lord that some of you are going to f and fine this year that you&#39;ve never had before and just like in the natural before you got married you&#39;d hang out in groups but if it was ever to go any further you&#39;d have to leave the group and start to connect oneon-one there&#39;s something about intimacy with the Lord he&#39;s so glad you&#39;re in church today he&#39;s so glad you&#39;re singing with all of us today but I wonder if in 2024 we&#39;re going to intentionally focus and say God I&#39;m not going to hide behind all the busyness and the things but I want to yield I want to be unashamed I want to be simple you know and lastly if you&#39;re going to build intimacy with God can I encourage you you know the more the closer you are to in any relationship the more relational you are it&#39;s not transactional it&#39;s not circumstantial it&#39;s relational it&#39;s relational he says don&#39;t be like the Hypocrites with their words he says your father knows your needs before you ask him and I thought to myself Lord if you know everything about me The Good the Bad and the Ugly you know the whole lot you know the complexities you know the fears the tears the issues if you know it all why do I still talk you know the Lord sees the beginning of your life and the end of your life in the same frame because he&#39;s not in time he&#39;s in eternity he can see every decision every season every change every good point High Point low point he can see it already he knows how this thing will end for you and so that God that father that father&#39;s in the secret place and he says come go deeper with me this year go closer with me this year I want more of you and you&#39;re like Lord but if you know everything why would I talk what&#39;s there to say you don&#39;t know and that&#39;s because so many of us see God transactionally lord I need this I need that no I need you you know I was playing with the with Ariel Josh and joy our kids passed their little baby yesterday at Youth and I was holding her and I said to her she&#39;s only less than two I said where&#39;s your daddy and his dad was on stage and she goes there I didn&#39;t ask her where&#39;s your daddy cuz I was looking for information I asked it cuz I was looking for engagement your father does not want information from you cuz he knows your needs before you ask him he&#39;s saying will you just talk with me will you just walk with me say Lord I don&#39;t know what to do but I know you won&#39;t leave me I know you&#39;ll carry me through this season I know you&#39;ll take me you brought me through worst you can bring me to my future Lord help me to see you help me to hear you God is a relational God and he wants your conversation he wants your interaction he wants to speak to you he wants to speak through you he&#39;s a good God and he&#39;s for [Music] you and I want to this year this is this is the Simplicity of today&#39;s message online and in the room Jeremiah 29 says 13 if you if you seek me you will find me if you seek me with all your heart God is not hiding from you he&#39;s is just waiting for you God is Not removed from your view he&#39;s not scared by the things that you think he can&#39;t he knows anyway so just let him in this year go for a walk take a closer walk with the Lord this year decide to go into your room and shut your door and pray to your father who&#39;s in the secret place talk to him openly talk to him simply if you would seek me with all your heart you will find me you know the this Jesus said ask and you&#39;ll receive seek and you&#39;ll find and there might be people here today saying yeah but Pastor I&#39;ve SE nothing was there I&#39;ve looked didn&#39;t find anything I came to church 3 weeks I tried tithing no nothing happened I tried serving I tried connect group see the problem is to seek does not describe how you seek if I lost 10 cents I would seek 10 cents I would look oh where did I drop that 10 cents oh there oh and if I can&#39;t find it I&#39;ll move on with my life well I tried that&#39;s how most of us would be cuz 10 cents is not worth much but I&#39;m seeking I just can&#39;t find but if I lost a million dollar check say it was a cash check for $1 million that means Whoever has that check has the access to $1 million if I lose that cash check how many realize I&#39;m not going to go oh oh I lost it never mind oh I will still be seeking but this kind of seeking will be a different kind of seeking if I lost a $1 million cash check right here we are locking the doors nobody&#39;s leaving the room we are going to turn this place upside down we&#39;ll rip the stage we&#39;ll rip the carpet why in both cases I&#39;m seeking I&#39;m seeking 10 cents and I&#39;m seeking a million dollars but the way I seek is very different because of the value I place on what I&#39;m seeking some of us seek the Lord like we seek a lost 10cent coin and wonder why we&#39;ve never found him and God says if you seek me you will find me if you search for me with all of my heart I wonder if in 2024 we will worship God like he&#39;s not 10 cents we will praise God like he&#39;s not a lost 10 cent coin why don&#39;t you place a value that is higher than Earthly value and decide right now that this is the year I&#39;m going to go I&#39;m going to go and shut my door I&#39;m going to pray to my father who&#39;s in the secret place this is the year you&#39;re going to encounter the Lord so come on I invite you right now let&#39;s worship him like he&#39;s not 10 cents worship him like he&#39;s the Prince of Peace meet me in the sto I&#39;m crying you quiet all the noise where I sh the door me me in the head meet me here thank you Lord me here [Music] again you&#39;re everything meet me in the chaos meet me in the storm you quiet all the noise when I shut the door it&#39;s not near I dra it to you you dra near to me as I look upon you my heart as I let&#39;s take a step closer as I it to you you drawn it to me as I look upon you come fromont to the he&#39;s your speak the Lord with all your heart as I look you my heart as I join iin you you join secret place today taste and see that the Lord is good I love you Holy Spirit I love you Holy Spirit I love I love for more of you your presence your pres me deer how I love how I love more come on express it use your words I love you I love you holy SP I love I love more of you your presence hold me how I love I for more of you in a minute in a minute Pastor Paul will come up and he&#39;s going to give you an invitation see the the kingdom is not compulsion it&#39;s always persuasion the spirit of God tugging on your heart saying leave that life of Independence and come follow me or there will be challenges but I&#39;ll be with you I&#39;ll never leave you I&#39;ll never forsake you in the good times in the bad times in the hard times and the struggling times I am not quitting on you see the problem is some of us have had relationships where people have quit on you the Lord will never quit on you he won&#39;t quit on you if you keep drawing near to him he&#39;s not put off by your issues he&#39;s not put off by your vulnerabilities he&#39;s not put off by your struggles just come simply come relationally but come intentionally come focused come unashamed come into His presence and the taste you have right here that&#39;s just the lord it&#39;s his it&#39;s his drawing that is available for you whenever you want it if you just wouldn&#39;t add him to the bottom of your list if you wouldn&#39;t add him in between appointments or just in small moments but you will say God 2024 I want to cultivate an intimacy with you Jesus I come as I am and I acknowledge my need for you I acknowledge my need for you you know that&#39;s you and and you just can you know I thought about this and I thought why am I scared to make a vow it&#39;s because I&#39;m scared I&#39;ll break it but in your heart of hearts if you&#39;re like God this year I&#39;m not going to get it right all the time but I want you to be my priority I want you to be my highest goal my most Magnificent Obsession I want you to be the the object of my attention and my affection I want to be close to you it doesn&#39;t matter how old you are how young you are how long you&#39;ve been a Christian how long you&#39;ve been a church if that&#39;s you all you need to do is be intentional come focused unashamed simply relationally he will not reject you that&#39;s you I just want you to lift your hands to the Lord yeah he&#39;s drawing he&#39;s drawing you he&#39;s drawing you yeah I&#39;ve been waiting I&#39;ve been waiting for you I&#39;ve gone nowhere I&#39;ve never gone anywhere seek me you&#39;ll find me I&#39;m in the secret place I&#39;m there I&#39;m there I never left I never left I never left so father I&#39;m praying God that as we lift our hands towards you it would be a vow of ss I know you are faithful even when we&#39;re not I know you are a covenant keeping God even when we&#39;re not but God let us not be scared of declaring Our intention to be focused and unashamed to come simply relationally into your presence we declare our need for you I don&#39;t come with my list I don&#39;t come to impress you I don&#39;t come to talk about what I&#39;ve done come as I am cuz I want more of you I want more of you I want more of you sing I need you I need you oh I need you every I need you my one defense [Music] myness oh God I need you tell him you need him Lord I need you oh I need you every I need you my one defense my oh God how I need one more time from the front to the back from the left to the right Lord I need you oh let a church let a Hungry Church let a church long for more of his presence my defense my [Music] rightous oh God how I need you Lord I need you Lord I need you oh I need you [Applause] every I need you my Wonder def my righteousness my rightousness God let the walls come down let the walls come down this year I [Music] you you every I need you that&#39;s it my want God my God oh God I my Wonder My righteousness you are my defense my my my defense my rightous my one defense my want [Applause] defense [Music] I [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

Transcript for:Cultivating Intimacy with God through the Posture of Prayer

Transcript for:
Cultivating Intimacy with God through the Posture of Prayer