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[silence] [Music] [Music] [Music]

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♪ What a friend we have in Jesus ♪ ♪ All our sins and griefs to bear ♪ ♪ What a privilege to carry every burden ♪ ♪ To carry everything to God in prayer ♪

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♪ Oh what peace we often, often ♪ ♪ Oh what needless pain we often ♪ ♪ In faith we bear ♪ ♪ Oh because we do ♪

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♪ And carry everything to God ♪ ♪ Anywhere ♪ ♪ Rain without ceasing ♪ ♪ Rain without ceasing ♪

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♪ Heavy trials ♪ ♪ And temptation ♪ ♪ Is that trouble ♪ ♪ Anywhere ♪

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♪ We should never be ♪ ♪ Discouraged ♪ ♪ Take heed to the Lord ♪ ♪ In prayer ♪

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♪ Can we find a friend so fair ♪ ♪ In some faithful ♪ ♪ Who will hold our sorrows ♪ ♪ Chains ♪

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♪ Jesus knows how ♪ ♪ Every weakness ♪ ♪ Taketh to the Lord ♪ ♪ Our Lord ♪

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♪ In prayer ♪ ♪ Pray without ceasing ♪ ♪ Pray without ceasing ♪ ♪ All we weep ♪

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♪ And heaven ♪ ♪ In anger ♪ ♪ Harvesting the love again ♪ ♪ Precious Savior still around you ♪

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♪ Take me to the morning land ♪ ♪ To that friend is my Lord saving ♪ ♪ Take him to thy holy grave ♪ ♪ In his arms he'll tend and shield thee ♪

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♪ Now we'll find a soul ♪ ♪ Lay there, pray without ceasing ♪ ♪ Pray without ceasing ♪ ♪ Weep all we need ♪

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♪ And carry laden ♪ ♪ Ponder with a thought ♪ ♪ Of their precious Savior's deal ♪ ♪ A refuge to take him to the Lord ♪

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♪ To the Lord ♪ ♪ In heaven ♪ ♪ Do that ♪ ♪ Do that ♪

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♪ Prince despised ♪ ♪ Forsaken ♪ ♪ Taken to ♪ ♪ The Lord in heaven ♪

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♪ In his arms ♪ ♪ He'll take and she'll be ♪ ♪ Now we've had our soul ♪ ♪ Let's bear presents of sin ♪

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♪ Oh, but be some peace we ♪ ♪ Of death, of death ♪ ♪ Of what needless pain we bear ♪ ♪ Of weepers we too can carry ♪

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♪ Everything to God ♪ Amen. At a time and in place, when a telephone was a luxury, We had to receive word from the person who lived closest to us whenever they wanted to communicate with us by telephone.

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Not only was it a luxury, it was something that even when you had it, you were not sure you could use it when you wanted to because we had what was known as a party line. And some other party could be on the line. And many times you had to ask them if they would be so kind as to release the lion.

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But prayer is communication. It is communication with God, speaking with God. There is a saying, "Prayer is the soul's sincere desire, unuttered or expressed, the motion of a hidden fire

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that trembles in the breath." Prayer may be public or private. We offer prayers on public occasions, and we engage in personal prayers

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when we have occasion to do so and participate with others. We may assume that those listening to Jesus on this particular occasion were people of all sorts and conditions. Jesus told this story concerning two men who went up to the temple to pray.

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In this audience there were no doubt Pharisees, Sadducees, there were ordinary people, There were religious leaders all listening to the words that he had to say. And on this occasion he tells this story about two men going to the temple to pray. One a Pharisee, the other a Republican.

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I want to be sure that you understand that this is a publican, not a republican. They went to the temple to pray. The Pharisee, who represents those at the top of the social ladder, the publican represents those at the bottom of the social ladder, but both of them go to the temple to pray.

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The scripture says that people ought always to pray. We need help. We need to be in tune with the infinite. We need guidance.

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We need the spiritual power that helps us in the direction that we should go. Men ought always to pray. So Jesus gives us the opportunity in this story to get a glimpse into the lives of these two men who go to the temple to pray.

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In fact, he lets us eavesdrop on their prayers. That can be very helpful. Sometimes it may not be. I remember when I was a youngster, I was always trying to eavesdrop, hear what the older people

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was saying. I remember quite well on one occasion I was outside the window listening and all of a sudden something got quiet on the inside. I could not hear any voices and then after that there came a pail of water that was let loose on me and it taught me a lesson. There moral and that do not eavesdrop you may end up all wet. So we get a glimpse into

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the lives of these two men. Listen to the Pharisees conversation with God. "God I I thank you that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as the publicans. Did you hear what I said? The Pharisee is talking to God. But let me tell you again what he said, "God, I thank you."

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In other words, this is the Pharisee's thanksgiving. He is thanking God that he is not as other men are. In fact, he's complimenting himself to God, indicating that he's better than other men. He puts himself up as a judge.

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In fact, he gives God a catalogue of his virtues, so to speak. He's not an extortioner. He's unjust. He's not an adulterer. and even compares himself with the publican saying that he's much better than that man over there.

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So, let's listen for a moment in on the publican's prayer. The publican has the same position as the Pharisee. They're both in the temple. He also has the same posture.

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Both of them are standing as they pray to God. But the publican feels his unworthiness. He does not promote himself because he is ashamed of himself. He does not brag on himself because he knows that he does not measure up to the standard.

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He falls far from the public expectation. He does not even so much as to lift up his eyes to heaven. He just smites his breast and says a prayer to God in seven words. "Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner."

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The publican realizes his unworthiness. He's humble. In fact, unlike the Pharisee who has built a wall around himself, so to speak, He has the dress of a prayer.

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He has his prayer shawl and all of that. So he looks the part, but his spirit is far from the spirit that one should have in communicating with the eternal. The Pharisee has shut out everyone but himself, and the one who shuts out others, who builds a wall around himself,

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shuts out more than he shuts in. Oh, we have prayers that are offered to God on this earth, prayers that are offered in this temple, but they fall short of being prayer that communicates with God.

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Prayer, as suggested to us in the model prayer which we had in our service this morning, is a prayer that enables us, if we have the right spirit, to commune with God, but not remembering the words of someone else and seeing how they can put language together,

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but the prayer that is of the spirit, spirit of God, humility. One boy working on a job, got off just a short time for lunch,

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and he ran down to the church, up to the altar and bowed on his knees and said, "Jesus, this is Jimmy." And he hadn't got much time for much more to say, but he went on back to work. That's all he did. But every day he did that, "Jesus, this is Jimmy."

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And after some time, Jesus said to him, "Jimmy, this is Jesus." And he took him on home to be with him. It's not the time that we can give so much time. It's whether or not we have the Spirit, the quality of Spirit that enables us to commune

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with God, to actually speak with God and have Him to speak with us. And this is all a language of the Spirit, language of the Spirit. There's nothing God says in this story that Jesus tells, but there is a Spirit that prevails

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where there is honest-to-goodness prayer. And where there is real prayer, there is the Spirit that is united with the Spirit. The Spirit with a small "s"

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is united with the Spirit with a capital S, the I and the thou. We somehow come together where there is real prayer. So prayer is an attitude.

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It's an attitude that has to do with communing with the eternal. We're finite. We are limited in what we're able to do and understand. But God is infinite. And so when we hook up with God, we hook up with the one who is all-powerful,

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who has the power to do whatever he wants to do. And so when one communicates with God, You're communicating with the one who has all power. I remember when I went into the office

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of the business manager. I was behind with my bill at college. I didn't know when I was gonna be able to catch up. I was getting farther behind each month.

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And the business manager said, how do you think these colleges are going to run without any money? We have to have money. And so I left and I said to myself, what shall I do?

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And then it came to me, I'm just going to tell God about it. He knows already, but I'm going to tell him again. Situation I'm in. And it was not long after that the president sent for me

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and said, "How much money does your family make?" And I told him it was just about $32 a month. And he said, "Well, you're supposed to pay $30 here at the college." He said, "My, my, what faith."

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And he gave me a larger scholarship that enabled me to stay there. So it all comes not in what we're able to do, but what God is able to do with us through prayer. That somehow we

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have an openness through which God is able to work. It's a channel of blessing when we trust Him, when we put things in His hands. And this is not fiction. This is reality.

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That when one prays, when one connects with God, we're connecting with the power that is able to do all things. Whatever he wills to do, he's able to do. And so God is able to communicate with us, and we communicate with him through the avenue of prayer. So, we have a two-way conversation here.

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The publican who's haughty, who's proud, who brags on himself. We have the Pharisee who does that, rather, and the publican who is just the opposite. He's a very humble person. But God listens.

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Jesus says that this man who was humble, who said, "Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner," went down more blessed than this proud Pharisee, because he had the spirit of meekness and humility. He recognized that he was in the presence of the eternal,

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and he approached the eternal in that manner. There's an old story of a man who lived a godly, righteous, and sober life, and he went to hell, and another man who did everything but a godly, righteous, and sober life, it And he went to heaven and he asked Allah, "How is it that I end up in heaven and the

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other man ended up in hell?" He said, "Well, it is because he trusted in his own righteousness." And I hope you get that. But you trusted in the righteousness of Allah.

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You trusted Allah. He trusted in his own righteousness. So trust God. Trust God, whatever may be tied, trust in Him.

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Trust in Him. As we journey through life, we trust in many things. But the thing that Jesus lifts up here in this story is trust God. Trust God.

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God is able to see us through, no matter where we are on land, in the air, wherever we are, trust God because God is able to see us through. Trust Him. all around us, but when we trust God, he somehow makes a way out of no way.

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Most parents are always concerned about how they're going to rear their children, how they're going to pay for their education. This is a problem all of us confront in a certain period. just dedicated a child here this morning and no doubt like many other parents

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this these parents are concerned about what they're going to be able to do for their child but trust God just because I'm here to tell you that when you trust God that he makes the way not that we just sit down and do nothing but but somehow when we put our hands in God's hands we have a companion who comes to

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us through Jesus Christ and walks with us over the hills and through the valleys we can trust God and he has a strange way of doing things he he he opens the upper door before you even get there he guides you through that door if you just hold his hand. Trust God. Trust God. Well, no matter what day it is,

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whether it's light or whether it's darkness, ask Paul and Silas. They're cast into a Philippian jail and in that jail they sing praises to God. They trust God. They didn't criticize God. They trusted God and if we trust God we don't have to worry about what's going to happen because we walk with him from time into eternity

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when we trust in him. That's good news. That's good news in a world of bad news. That's good news. We fervently sing, "Trust God, I trust in God, wherever I may be, no matter what may be the circumstances, Pharisee or Republican or publican, whatever it may be, trust God. Trust God.

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Trust God. What a friend we have in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything, everything to God in prayer.

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And somehow, he'll work it out. He'll work it out. He'll work it out. He'll work it out.

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No matter what may come, he'll work it out. Trust God. Trust God. If you come now to the hymn of invitation,

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we extend the privilege as we sing this hymn for church membership by letter, by Christian experience, or on profession of faith. We invite you to come.

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Have thine own way, Lord. Have thine own way. Thou art the potter, I am the clay. To let Him mold your life.

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To let Him shape your career. to let Him guide you in the way that He wants you to go. Now that's, that's, that's the good news. Come, the letter by Christian Experience

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on Professional Faith. Have thine own way. Have that old way, thou art a parter, I am the clay. ♪ Hold me and make me ♪

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♪ After Thy will ♪ ♪ While I am waiting ♪ ♪ Yielded and still ♪ ♪ Have Thine own way, Lord ♪

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♪ Have Thine own way ♪ ♪ Search me in finding ♪ ♪ Master today ♪ ♪ For I fear that no Lord ♪

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♪ Washed me just now ♪ As in Thy presence, come be Thine own. Have Thine own way, Lord, have Thine own way. [MUSIC]

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[MUSIC] [music] [Choral singing] ♪ Heavenly Lord, heavenly Lord ♪

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♪ Heavenly Lord ♪ ♪ All of the deep ♪ ♪ Jester has prayed ♪ ♪ Here is the Spirit ♪

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♪ They also see ♪ ♪ Christ only always ♪ ♪ Living in me ♪ - Those persons who stood earlier,

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celebrating birthdays and wedding anniversaries, will you go now? [BLANK_AUDIO]