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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Dave Steward

Dave Steward: Prayer Inspiration Weekend

Faith is Closer Than You Think

Pentecost, Prison, and the Power of Prayer

Carlos Moretta

The Prayer of Humility

Melody Mason

The Prayer of Surrender

The Prayer of Holy Spirit Power


When Melody asked if I would have a few words on prayer, I felt like she was asking me to have a few words on physical chemistry or something like that, Because I have probably the least Experience in this audience in this congregation on prayer I Am so practical that it's hard for me to To put into words the that which you cannot see feel hear or should I say touch, and try to elucidate on the importance of something that's hard to wrap your fingers around and yet is so utterly simple as having a conversation. But I had promised to God years ago that if I was ever asked to speak that I would And so I got to keep my end of the bargain, right? So my talk this afternoon is on humility and prayer. Another reason why it's probably important for me to present this topic, because We all need a little humility, right? Amen Before we go into into the concept of humility in prayer, which I think we're all going to develop this afternoon.

I want to talk a little bit about humility in our lives. So I'll have a quick word of prayer. Let's bow our heads. Father in heaven, we thank you so much for the beautiful Sabbath afternoon that you have granted us Lord an opportunity to commune with you in your nature and we would ask that you would condescend to be with us this afternoon in a mighty way that lives be changed by your Holy Spirit. These things I pray in Jesus' name, amen.

So I remember the Sabbath afternoon. It was GYC 2008, a couple of months ago. And I dislike the Sabbath afternoon activity at GYC for the last several years, chiefly because it really pricks at this issue of humility, right? For those of you who haven't gone to GYC before, Sabbath afternoon is when all the young people pile into school buses and go into the neighboring vicinity and we knock on doors and we look for Bible studies right and every year I tell my wife I'm not doing the door-to-door thing I'm not doing the door-to-door thing. I'm not doing the door-to-door thing.

And she says, well, it's going to be okay. It's not a big deal. It's just, let's go. And so I just, I've never liked the door-to-door thing, you know. And so after the Sabbath talk, you're so inspired.

You're like, okay, I'm going to do the door-to-door thing. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go It's still in the back of my head. I'm scared to death.

It's just that whole rejection thing, you know I Decided that I would set all my anxiety aside and go forward and participate in the sufferings of Jesus Christ this year. And so we went and the bus driver knew that I was nervous and she could tell, you could see it a mile away. And she said, Carlos, I'm going to pray with you. And I was like, yeah, do something because I need help. And so she prayed for me and she prayed with me.

And it was cold this year. It was freezing. It was probably 10 degrees. There was a blizzard coming on and I had my Crocs on and all the cold just right through my little holes. So I was miserable and so I was kind of grumpy and stomping and we go to the first door and and I'm babbling because that's what I do when I'm nervous.

Well I actually do it all the time but but my wife is telling me relax and calm down and I'm like oh look at the little Santa Claus. And, oh, they still left their garden hose out. And just babbling about everything, trying to disperse my nervousness and my anxiety. And finally we go and we knock on the door, and a 60-some-year-old gentleman opens the door. And I immediately start saying, hi, my name is Carlos Moretta, and this is Daphne, and we're from California.

To which he responds, great, go back. And he slammed the door on our face. And I was beside myself. I was like, I thought it was a joke. And I just waited.

I said, I know he didn't just slam the door on my face. And Daphne was like, well, let's go. I'm like, no, no, no. He's going to open up again. Let's stay right here.

And so the reality of the situation started dawning on me that he did slam the door in our face, and he wasn't going to open up. And so I was very disappointed, Very disappointed. This was clearly a joke, I thought. I just couldn't believe it. Well, when you're disappointed like that the devil takes advantage and you know wasn't long before just seconds after that I I started hearing these these ideas come into my head you know like you know you don't deserve this carlos you don't deserve to be treated like this have some pride don't Don't let yourself be treated like an animal.

Go back to the convention center. I mean, nice, warm. You've gone to school way too long to be treated like this. These are all ideas that were just crossing my head. And so, Both from the same source.

Yes, the same source. But you know, these little ideas work profoundly when you've just been humiliated, you know? Or humbled. Not necessarily humiliated, but humbled. And it only proved my point that, to me, that door-to-door was just not effective.

It was an ineffective ministry for me, or so I thought. And so I was humiliated. And funny how the more you think you are somebody or someone, the more painful and debilitating it is when you are humbled. So why is it hard to be humbled? Well, chiefly because we're not humbled to begin with.

You know, a lot of us think we are. We dress modestly. We live conservatively. We drive a little beater like I do, a 1989 or 88 Tercel. And everyone's like, wow, he's so humble.

You're so humble. I hear that all the time. And I'm like, yeah, that's right. That's right, I'm humble. Drive a piece of junk car, right?

So my question, I guess, would be is, is this the kind of humility that Christ exemplified or requires? And I don't think it is. Society tells us to be proud. And That's what we're surrounded by in your upbringing. Be proud of your work, be proud of your work ethic, be proud of your heritage, be proud of your accomplishments, of yourself.

Stand tall, be proud. But we're warned of this little word pride I Was reading in patriarchs and prophets and in it Ellen White had a really interesting a really interesting take on this little word, pride. Speaking of David after his particular sin, it says, you know, the Bible has little to say in the praise of men. Little space is given to recounting the virtues of even the best men who have ever lived. This silence is not without purpose.

It is not without a lesson. All the good qualities that men possess are the gift of God. Their good deeds are performed by the grace of God through Christ. Since they owe all to God, the glory of whatever they do or whatever they are or they do belongs to Him alone. They are but instruments in his hand.

More than this, as all the lessons of the Bible history teach, it is a perilous thing to praise or exalt men. For if 1 comes to lose sight of his entire dependence on God and trust to his own strength, he is sure to fall. Man is contending with foes who are stronger than he. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but principalities against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against wicked spirits and high places. Ephesians 6.12.

It is impossible for us in our own strength to maintain the conflict and whatever diverts the mind from God whatever leads to self-exaltation to self-dependence is surely preparing the way for our overthrow the tenor is and I like this last statement this last sentence the tenor of the Bible in other words the crux of the Bible, is to inculcate distrust in human power and to encourage trust in divine power. So in Isaiah, this is the kind of God we serve. In Isaiah 57, 15, I mean, how important is it for God? We notice when we look at the pages of this book right here from cover to cover the sequence is easy to follow it's God in a perfect perfect God, perfect creation, and perfect union and the breakup of that perfect union and then God's effort to bring it together once again and so God throughout this entire book tells us what his requirements are for that union to come through to its fruition once again and Isaiah 57 15 can turn in your Bibles Isaiah 57 15 It says For thus sayeth the high and lofty 1 that Inhabited eternity whose name is holy I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit." That is of a what?

Humble. A contrite and a humble spirit. To revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. So let's look at the example of Jesus Christ. The creator of the universe was humble before his very own creation.

He could have come as the Jews expected, with all the pomp and all the royalty that he deserved, right? But what percentage of the world's population would be able to identify with that kind of a savior? He had to come as a poor, lowly peasant, because the majority of the world consists of what? Poor, lowly peasants. It's no small undertaking, this example that Christ left us.

To be everything and become nothing. To be able to approach, befriend, and save someone who thinks they have everything, but they really don't. So how do we approach this kind of a Savior? Well, we do it as He did to us. We set aside our titles, we set aside our accolades, our careers, our possessions, the things the world says are everything.

We put them aside and we come to God with a spirit of humility that places us exactly where we are to be before the Creator of the universe. God is not so mysterious about this particular issue. In his Word he gives us the equation of the prayer of humility and we'll find that in 2nd Chronicles chapter 7 verse 14 and 15 and this is a promise which which gives God's requirements but also gives God's God's promise of blessing if his requirements are met. This is the condition. Verse 14 says, If my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face, that's the condition, and turn from their wicked ways, that's another condition.

Probably an even bigger condition. Then will I hear. Then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. And now I like verse 15 that says, now mine eyes shall be open, my ears attend unto the prayer that is made in this place. God's not so mysterious.

Faith I live by, page 138. The men who humble themselves even as a little child are the men who will be taught by God. The Lord is not dependent on any man's talents, for he is the source of all perfect gifts. The very humblest man, if he loves and fears God, is the possessor of heavenly gifts. The Lord can use such a man, but he does not strive to work himself according to his own standard.

He works with fear and trembling, lest he spoil the pattern. His life is an expression of the life of Christ. The prayer of humility demands that you are nothing and you are in the presence of a God who is everything. It requires for you to take inventory of your life and allow the Holy Spirit to convict you of your sinful inconsistencies and for you to agree and Admit that you were wrong And that you need help Now God can work in you his good will. But what is his will?

And we've all been, you know, we're good Bible-believing Seventh-day Adventist Christians, we believe, we know the answer to this, right? His will is our sanctification, right? But you know, practically speaking, listen to this quote from Home Missionary, powerful quote. When God's people humble the soul before him, and this is very particular to us, to us in this generation. When God's people humble the soul before him individually seeking his Holy Spirit with all the heart there will be heard from human lips such a testimony as is represented in this scripture what scripture am I gonna read revelation maybe you guys maybe y'all can help me with this, and you'll know what I'm saying.

The scripture is this, After these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power, and the earth was lightened with his glory. Revelation 18 There will be faces aglow with the love of God. There will be lips touched with holy fire, saying, The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin. Humility is necessary for the loud cry. These are the people that will wrap up the great controversy.

So we walked to the next house. My face was long. I just really hated this. We knocked on the house next door and I hoped no 1 would open and no 1 did. And I said, praise the Lord, he does hear my prayers.

I thought, no 1 opened when we knocked on the third house. This isn't so bad. I could do this for another couple hours, I thought. As we walked through the chilling snowdrift to the next house, a large Cadillac pulled up to the side of the road. I glanced over as we walked by, and I noticed that the man who was in the driver's seat, or the individual who was in the driver's seat, was signaling to me to come over.

And so at this point, I'm just very cynical. The idea of being abducted wasn't repulsive to me at that moment. At least it was a good excuse for me not finishing the door-to-door campaign, right? So I walked over and I looked inside as the window, as the tinted window came down. And to my amazement, The man inside said this, hey, I'm the guy who slammed the door on your face a couple houses down.

I just wanted to say I'm sorry and ask what do you have for me? I got my words out quickly so we both wouldn't freeze in the Minneapolis blizzard, but I walked away from that car humbled. Humbled that this man set aside his pride to go out and find us and apologize. Humbled that I thought I was someone when I was actually a nobody. And humbled because I thought God needed me to be somebody to reach others when Jesus taught that a nobody is more effective.

Finally this encounter also taught me how I should approach God when I pray. I lay aside everything the world says I am and I say God I'm the guy who slams the door on you all the time. I'm sorry. I am no 1. Have mercy on me and show me now.

What do you have for me? My heart's challenge for you this afternoon is this. The brokenness of beauty. I'm gonna have Melody hand out a copy of these to everyone. And I just want to go over the beauty of brokenness.

I said the brokenness of beauty, didn't I? It's the other way around. The beauty of brokenness. I want us to think on these words and then Melody will have some instructions for us as we part and find our praying areas or places where we're going to spend the next segment praying. The beauty of brokenness.

Proud self people, self-filled people focus on the failures of others, whereas broken, humble people are overwhelmed with the sense of their own spiritual need. Proud self-filled people look down on others, while broken, humble people esteem all others better than themselves. Proud people are independent, self-sufficient. Broken people have a dependent spirit. They recognize their need for God's strength.

Proud people maintain control must be my way or the highway whereas broken people will surrender their control and they only want God's way. Proud people have to prove that they are right whereas broken people are willing to yield to the right, or yield the right to be right. Proud people claim the rights, claim rights with others and God, and broken people yield rights to God and others. Proud people have demanding spirits. Broken people have giving spirit.

Proud people are self-protective of their own space, time, reputation, and possessions. Broken people have a spirit of self-denial and are willing to let go of personal space time and possessions. Proud people desire to be served. Broken people are motivated to serve others. Proud people desire to be a success so others will see.

Humble people desire to be faithful to God and help others succeed. Proud people desire to be recognized and appreciated. Broken people have a sense of unworthiness and are thrilled to be used at all and give credit to others. Proud people think of what they can do for God. Humble people know they have nothing to offer God.

Proud people feel confident in how much they know. Broken people are humbled by how much they have to learn. Proud people are self-conscious and always think of what will benefit self, whereas humble people are not concerned with self at all, but only God's glory. Proud people keep people at arm's length. Humble People risk getting close to others in loving and being vulnerable.

Proud people are quick to blame others. Humble people accept personal responsibility, acknowledge when they do wrong. Proud people are unapproachable. Broken people easy to be untreated. Proud people are defensive when criticized.

Broken people receive criticism with a humble open heart. Proud people are concerned with being respectable. Humble people are concerned with being real. Proud people are concerned about what others think. Humble people are all that matters is what God knows and thinks.

Proud people find it difficult to share their spiritual needs with others. Broken people are willing to be open and transparent with others. Proud people have a hard time saying, I was wrong, will you forgive me? Broken people are quick to admit failure and seek forgiveness. Proud people, when confessing sin, they deal with it in generalities, whereas humble people confess sin in specifics.

Proud people are most remorseful over their sin when they are caught. Humble people strive to be cleansed and free of sin at all cost to self. Proud people can compare themselves with others and feel deserving of honor whereas humble people compare themselves to the holiness of God and realize they are unworthy. Proud people do good for God, hoping others will notice. Humble people do good quietly when no 1 is looking because they love God.

Proud people thank God they aren't like the world, whereas humble people realize sin and self-pride and are just as just as deadly as the world's Proud people don't think they need to repent, but are sure everyone else does. Humble people have a continual heart attitude of repentance. Proud people see all the good they do and feel worthy of salvation, whereas humble people realize salvation comes only by the blood of Christ and no 1 deserves it. Proud people blind are blind to their true hearts condition whereas broken humble people realize their true heart condition and plead for God's grace. Let us pray.

Father in heaven, we thank you again. As we take time in our quiet moments, as we separate now, we ask Father that you would have an open conversation with us, Father. Convict us of our shortcomings and help us, Lord, to rely wholly on you for salvation and forgiveness of sins. Thank you for this opportunity. In this I pray in Jesus name, Amen.

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Series

Dave Steward: Prayer Inspiration Weekend

The Prayer of Humility

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

Other Teachings in Series

Faith is Closer Than You Think

Pentecost, Prison, and the Power of Prayer

The Prayer of Humility

The Prayer of Surrender

The Prayer of Holy Spirit Power

Sound Doctrine