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  LETTING CHRIST LAY HIS BURDEN ON US
  by Santosh Poonen
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Summary: This sermon emphasizes the importance of praying with a burden,
following the examples of Jesus in Gethsemane and the disciples in the
garden. It highlights the need to pray for God's burden to be laid upon
us, to watch and pray to avoid entering into temptation, and to seek the
Holy Spirit's guidance in our prayers.

Topics: "Praying with Burden", "Seeking the Holy Spirit's Guidance"
Scripture References: Matthew 26:36, Mark 10:35, Luke 19:29, Romans 8:26

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DESCRIPTION
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This sermon emphasizes the importance of praying with a burden,
following the examples of Jesus in Gethsemane and the disciples in the
garden. It highlights the need to pray for God's burden to be laid upon
us, to watch and pray to avoid entering into temptation, and to seek the
Holy Spirit's guidance in our prayers.

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CONTENT
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If you've been following along, the primary class is going through
Romans 8 and so it's a wonderful chapter just to see, for example, last
week when through their memory verse they taught us that the mind set on
the flesh is not even able to please God. If you're trying to please God
and you find that you're not even able to do so, a big reason for that
may be because your mind is set on the flesh. Let's look at that.

I'll begin there Romans chapter 8, Romans 8 verse 6. The mind set on the
flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.
There's only two ways to live life, either set on the flesh or set on
the spirit. There's no in-between Christian life, in Christendom you'll
hear that you say a prayer and repentance is not preached, daily
repentance after you're born again is not emphasized, and so you end up
with a lot of people who think they're Christians but their mind is
still set on the flesh and they think they have life, but they don't
because Romans 8, 6 says the mind set on the flesh is death.

But the mind that is set is set, that means it's a continual being set
on the spirit, is life and peace. Because the mind set on the flesh is
actually hostile toward God. If you're thinking about yourself and how
you can make it in this world and how you can provide more for yourself
and that preoccupies your mind in an earthly centered, self-centered
way, you're an enemy of God.

That's what Romans 8, 7 says. For it does not subject itself to the law
of God, for it is not even able to do so. And it's no wonder then that
you end up with people who say a prayer, perhaps sincerely, and come to
Jesus, ask for Him to forgive their sins and He does.

And He wants to have the Holy Spirit grow within them, but their mind is
still set on the flesh. The mind is still set on themselves and the
things of this world. And they find that after they have said this
prayer, they're not even able to please God.

If you come across such people, whether they call themselves Christian
or not, I pray that our lives will be an example. Say, we're not doing
it perfectly, but we're learning the secret of Romans 8, 6 and 7, which
says that if I set my mind on the Spirit, it's life and peace. And the
more I draw my mind away from the flesh, from the things of this world,
I will find that I'm able to do so, to please God.

And those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Those who are in the
flesh cannot please God. We'll keep that in mind.

I'd like to speak today about prayer. I've been meditating on this for a
number of months now. Just prayer, the mystery of prayer.

I'll be honest, I can't wrap my mind around how prayer works. It's a
mystery. It really is a mystery to me.

And the more I've looked at the Word of God and examined what the Word
of God has to say, the more I've walked with God and gone to know Him,
it's even more of a mystery. I'll be honest with you. But it's as
mysterious as the resurrection.

There's no explanation for how God can allow somebody to die and then
raise them back to life. There's just no logical explanation for it.
There's no scientific... You can't go into a medical book and figure out
how a dead person can somehow come back to life.

They have no ability to come back to life, and yet they do. There's no
medical explanation for it. And I find prayer is a little bit like that.

It's a mystery. And I think of it like what Jesus said, I praise thee,
Matthew 11, 25, Father, that you have hidden these things from the wise
and the intelligent and revealed them to babes. And the goal of my
message this morning is that if you find that your prayer life is
lacking in some way, I'm not talking about coming to the prayer
meetings, which I hope you do, or praying when we're here together.

I'm talking about a continual praying without seizing, where throughout
the day there's a communion between you and your Father in heaven. And
if that's not there, don't be discouraged. Don't walk away from this
meeting or from this message beating yourself up that it's not there.

I pray that you'll have hope and children for you from the youngest,
however old you are, however young you are, that you can learn that
Jesus wants to be your friend, for you to communicate with him, to have
fellowship with him, to talk to him, to hear him in a real way. And I
pray that we will all experience that. But it's revealed to babes.

And so, children, you actually have the potential to come into a true
prayer life more easily than us adults. Because God has hidden it from
us. We're more intelligent than you.

Now, actually, I think some of you kids are probably more intelligent
than us. But we've been trained in the things of this world a little too
much, a little bit more. And we have to unlearn that.

And so, children, if you're six years old or five or something like
that, and you haven't really, you're not even in first grade yet, you
have an advantage that we don't have. You can remain a babe. Jesus said,
Matthew 11 25, I praise you Father.

Let's look at that verse very quickly, so you know it. The things of
heaven, God has hidden from the wise and the intelligent and revealed to
babes. In fact, Jesus was so excited about that, that he said, I praise
you.

I praise you, Matthew 11 verse 25, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
that you have hidden these things. This is an intentional act of God.
It's not just accident.

God sees a wise intelligent person trying to find an answer to some
spiritual thing. And God says, I'm gonna hide it from you. Do you want
to be such a person? You're playing hide-and-seek with God.

I'm not trying to be silly. Please understand. If you're playing hide-
and-seek with God, you'll never find him.

If God is hiding himself from you, you'll never find him. It's
impossible to find him. And if God has hidden these things, the only way
to find him is to forsake our wisdom and intelligence, our reliance on
our own intelligence and understanding.

But he's revealed them to babes. So the babes don't even have to try. He
says, here, let me show it to you.

It's like somebody playing hide-and-seek again, to use that same analogy
and says, here I am. You can find me. I'm not even gonna try to hide
myself.

You see the opposite here? God hiding himself from some and revealing
himself to others. And you'll see that if you observe Christians. There
are some who are extremely smart, extremely wise and intelligent.

They might have bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, PhDs in the things
of this world or even in theology. They go to seminary and think that's
where they will find God and they don't. Because God has hidden these
things.

You could read the Bible with all your wisdom and intelligence and God
says, it's just a book for you. And then some other child who can barely
read or somebody and I've met some godly men who are illiterate or can
barely read, in whom I see God has revealed truths. That's beyond the
written pages of this book.

That's what I long for. Oh, I thank God for this book. It's more and
more precious to me.

But I never want to read it with my wisdom and intelligence. And I see
that the people who have blessed me the most by their life and their
teaching have been the ones who have come to God. Whether they're
intelligent or not, you can't help it if you're intelligent.

If you are, that's fine. God will use it for the things of this world
and he can use it for the things of the kingdom as well. If you forsake
your confidence in that intelligence and say, Lord, I come to you as a
babe.

So I want to be such a person. You know, we believe that every
Christian, anyone who calls himself a Christian, must live as Jesus
lived, must walk as Jesus walked. That's 1st John 2 verse 6. We say that
often in this church, but one of the things the Holy Spirit has been
impressing on my heart is to not just say that verse and say, yeah, I
want to live as Jesus lived.

I will be conformed into his image. But to more and more examine the
life of Jesus. Not only the facts of his life that we know from the
Gospels.

See, in the Gospels, you see the facts of Jesus' life and his teaching.
But then in the Epistles, we see more of his nature. What was the inner
life like? I look at the Epistles as revealing what the first 30 years
of Jesus' life was like.

What does it mean to be Christ-like in nature? And that actually comes
first, as we heard last week. Let's pay attention to our life. Let's pay
attention to the life of Christ in us and then to our teaching.

So the life of Christ comes first, which is probably why it's good that
there's 23 books on the life of Christ, the inner life of Christ, and
then four books about the ministry of Christ in the Gospels. But if we
really believe that, this is what the Holy Spirit's been impressing on
my heart, that if you really say that we must live as Jesus lived and
walk as he walked, then if we see that Jesus did certain things a
certain way, we say, well, that's how we must do it too. For example,
you look at how Jesus preached.

And then you look at how most preachers in Christendom preach. You'll
see a difference. If you look at how Jesus did miracles, how he cast out
demons, and he told them, don't say a word about it.

He never bragged about the miracles that he did. And yet you'll see
almost every preacher who thinks they've done miracles talking about it.
And they'll say, oh, I did this and God used me to do this miracle.

Again, most of it, I believe, is not true at all. You look at how Jesus
prayed and what Jesus told us about prayer. That's how we know what real
prayer is.

As you've heard Zach say often, Jesus is our dictionary. It's not a
concordance. It's not an earthly dictionary.

If you want to know humility, if you want to know grace, if you want to
know peace, if you want to know joy, if you want to know love, if you
want to know prayer, you don't go to Oxford or Merriam-Webster
dictionary and say, what is prayer? You don't do a concordance search.
Well, you can do a concordance search on where all prayer comes and what
does it mean and get some theological answer or prayer. You look to the
life of Jesus.

And if the Holy Spirit is within you, he will reveal to you the prayer
life of Jesus in a way that's not even recorded in this book. And you
get to know. It will be confirmed by the things in this book, but the
Holy Spirit will teach you how to pray.

So you look at John 11. Here's a phrase that Jesus said about prayer
that has become a challenge for me. If I want to live as Jesus lived and
walk as Jesus walked, I ought to increasingly come to a place where my
prayers are becoming more like the prayers of Jesus.

Not necessarily in the words that I say, because we're not praying in
Aramaic, which is the language that Jesus used when he was here on this
earth. So to be more Christ-like in our prayer doesn't mean that we
learn Hebrew or Aramaic. It means that we learn the spirit of Jesus'
prayer and pray the same way.

And we look at the fruit of Jesus' prayers and say, Lord, Father, if you
heard Jesus' prayer and it was answered in this way, and you tell me now
I ought to pray as Jesus prayed, 1st John 2 verse 6, so then Lord, you
must do the same for me. And if I see that, if I don't see the same
outcome of my prayers as Jesus had in his prayers, who's my foremost
example, then I don't just say, well, it was Jesus. He's the Son of God
and so he's a little bit special.

Yes, he is the Son of God. He will never not be the Son of God. But the
devil wants you to think that the fact that the Son of Man, who also
Jesus was, when he prayed on this earth was somehow different than you
and I, sons and daughters of men and women.

So you look at John 11 41, just before Jesus raised Lazarus from the
dead. Now I want to emphasize that our calling is not necessarily to do
all the things that Jesus did. You and I may never raise somebody from
the dead.

If God wants to, he'll use you. That's fine. You must have the faith for
it, that if there's ever a situation where it's impressed on you that
the Father is going to lead you very clearly and specifically to raise
somebody from the dead or to do anything, that you'll do it in the grace
and the power of God.

But here's what I want you to see. More than even the physical fact of
Lazarus's resurrection, look at what Jesus said. So they removed the
stone.

Then Jesus raised his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have
heard me. I thank you that you have heard me. He's not even said the
prayer yet.

He says, Father, I thank you that you've heard me. He's giving thanks
before he's actually asking the request. And then he says, I know, I
knew that you always hear me.

I knew that you always hear me. And then he says, but because of the
people standing around and for Santos's sake in 2022 and all these other
dear brothers and sisters, so they would know that the Father always
heard Jesus for their sakes. I have said this out loud so that they may
believe that you sent me so that you too would have faith that the
Father wants.

I ought to be able to say that the Father always hears me. Let me ask
you, dear brother, dear sister, and even dear children, do you believe
without a doubt, without a shadow of doubt, that when you pray, the
Father is listening to you? Don't imagine it. Don't just say, well, of
course, yeah, I said it out loud.

So you must have heard me. No. Do you know in your heart he heard you?
It's sealed.

It was recorded in heaven. He wrote it down. Oh, how it will change the
way we live our lives when we say, Father Jesus, I want to start praying
as you prayed.

So that I too can say, I knew that you always heard what I said. In John
8, he says, I know that you are with me because I only do the things
that please you. I only do the things that please you, Father.

So you're always with me. I mean, I have that relationship with my wife.
I know that she always hears what I say.

And that's that bridal relationship that God wants to have, that Jesus
wants to have with us. And I said it's a mystery, but and still we pray.
Let's turn to James 5. The mystery for me is that God knows the future.

He knows exactly what's going to happen. He knows the end from the
beginning, we are told. And how do you go to somebody who knows the end
from the beginning and then say, I would like you to do something, or I
would like you to change a particular circumstance.

That's the mystery. I can't explain. And I don't believe I ever will be
able to explain it with my human mind.

That the God who knows the end from the beginning invites us to move his
hand. The God who knows the end from the beginning invites you to move
his hand. You'll see that throughout scripture.

When Hannah, 1 Samuel, the very first chapters of that wonderful book,
had no child, she prayed and she cried out and she couldn't care less
who was listening to her. Didn't care that the priest who was supposed
to be in touch with God wasn't in touch with God and thought she was
drunk. But she was crying out to God.

She forgot about everybody else. She had such a need, such a desperation
within her heart and then God answered her prayer. God specifically gave
her a child after she prayed.

Now you can, the intelligent one will say, well God knew he was going to
give her a child anyway, right? So what was the point of her prayer? And
let me tell you this, I believe with all my heart that if Hannah had not
prayed, she would not have received a child. That I believe. Because
we're commanded to pray.

And let the intelligent and the wise people say, well what's the point
of prayer then if God's going to do whatever he wants to do anyway? If
my children are going to end up in heaven or in hell, what does it
matter if I pray? Oh I tell you, if you leave it to the devil to
determine the future of your children or their self-will, I don't know
what will happen. But I pray for our children, my own children, but for
every child in this church. I want you to know that.

Not to be impressed with me, but God has given us as elders a burden.
And I hope all of you adults, you have a burden for the children in this
church, that not one of them will be lost. And I'm praying in faith that
God will do that.

Now you might say, well is God going to overpower their self-will, their
free will that he has and all that stuff? I say, I'm not going to try to
explain that. I don't know. I believe in free will.

I believe God will never take away our free will. But I also believe in
the power of God. And I don't know how these two mix.

That's all I can say. But I say God wants me to pray. And I'm not going
to stop praying for my children, for our children, until Christ comes.

And I believe that the prayers I pray, like you've heard me say often,
will outlive me. Like they did for George Muller, who prayed for
specific people and long after he died and was in the presence of Jesus,
God answered his prayer here on this earth. Because we serve an eternal
God.

He's not limited by the fact that I'm here on this earth for a finite
amount of time. And so if on your deathbed you think, well Lord those
those prayers that you laid on my heart to pray, you haven't answered.
But I'm going to pray.

My last breath will be, Lord answer my prayer. I'm going to charge the
gates of hell praying that way. And then I see Jesus face to face and
I'll see clearly, no longer dimly, and I'll see how he will answer that
prayer.

And I will be at rest. James 5, we're told verse 13. Is anyone among you
suffering? Then he must pray.

Prayer is a command. Don't try to figure it out. Don't try to analyze
it.

Pray. And if that suffering continues for a five years, pray. If it
continues for 10 years, pray.

You must pray if you're suffering. Dear brother, dear sister, dear
child, if you're suffering, whether it's a physical ailment, an
emotional ailment, a spiritual ailment, if you're suffering, you must
pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.

That's why we have prayer and praise in our meetings. Because there are
some who are cheerful, sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? Then he
must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him.

Please do that. We invite you. We don't have a time where we do it
publicly but according to this verse, we see that you can call for us
elders and we'll meet you.

And we can anoint you with oil if you'd like us to. And we'll pray over
you and for you and with you and we'll continue to pray. Let him call
for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing
him with oil in the name of the Lord.

And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. And
the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, they will be
forgiven him.

Now this is a question we ask if we've ever prayed for you. You know
that we ask you this first of all. Have you committed any sin? There are
some sicknesses that are a result of sin according to this passage.

So we'll ask you first of all, is there unconfessed sin in your life? If
there is, all our laying on of hands and anointing of oil will be of no
use. Because you haven't forsaken that sin. But if you forsake that sin,
confess it.

It will be forgiven you. Therefore confess your sins to one another and
pray for one another so that you may be healed. As you've heard us say
often, the context of confessing our sins to one another is here.

In the context of elders praying for a man or woman who is sick. And
that sickness is because of sin. And he says the effective prayer of a
righteous man can accomplish much.

And then he talks about the story of Elijah. Elijah was a man with a
nature like ours. Which means that he too had this logical mind.

That's one way that I think about Elijah having a nature like ours.
Elijah when the Lord told him go and pray that that there will not be
rain. He didn't sit there because he had a nature like ours.

He didn't sit there and think well Lord, if there's not going to be
rain, what's the point of my praying? You're not going to give the rain,
right? And nothing would have happened. Elijah could not have been used
by God. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours.

And yet he prayed earnestly that it would not rain. God told him to pray
and he didn't just say okay Lord, let it not rain. You see, see the
spirit that Elijah had.

God told him go and pray that would not rain. And he prayed earnestly.
There was not well Lord, okay I'm just going to record the prayer
because you asked me to pray.

Pray for your children that they will all be disciples of the Lord
Jesus. Say okay Lord, I pray that all my children will be disciples of
Jesus. Check the box then go on with not praying for them anymore.

Look at the prayer of Elijah for the thing that the Lord told him to
pray for. Even though the Lord told him to pray, Elijah prayed
earnestly. Are you praying earnestly for your children? Earnestly.

The Lord I'm teaching them, I'm giving them your word and we have the
memory verses and all that. Pray earnestly. Oh pray earnestly brothers
and sisters.

Our children is just an example. There are many other things God wants
us to pray for. But he prayed earnestly that it would not rain.

And it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Then
the Lord told him okay now pray that it will rain. And he prayed again.

I believe earnestly. Lord don't let it rain now. Let it rain now Lord.

You've said, you've put this burden on my heart. You've spoken to me.
Now he prayed earnestly.

Oh I want to emphasize here that Elijah prayed earnestly for the thing
that the Lord told him to pray for. It wasn't just a ritual prayer. Now
think about it dear brothers and sisters.

When we pray before the meeting, we meet at 10-15 for 15 minutes or so.
We pray before the meeting. Oh Lord bless this meeting.

Let it go. Is it sort of just a casual, yeah Lord thank you for this day
and bless the meeting we're here. Heal all those who are sick.

Now I'm not trying to mock any prayer. Please understand. But is there
an earnestness? Whether it's manifest in how you pray, the fervor, the
zeal with which you pray.

I'm not talking about an emotional stirring either. But is there a
burning? Is there a fervor? Is there a zeal? Is there an earnestness
within your heart for what you're praying for? Oh then God will answer.
And then he prayed again and the sky poured rain and the earth produced
its fruit.

So the mystery is that God knows the future and yet he asks us to move
his hand as we see here. Let's go back to Romans chapter 8. And one of
the first things I'd like us to see is that we don't know how to pray.
If you think you know how to pray, think again.

You actually don't know how to pray. The disciples realized this.
Because see the disciples at the age of when Jesus was 30.

So they would have been in their late 20s. I believe they were all good
religious Jews who were raised in the law of God. They were law abiding
Jews.

Otherwise God would not have picked them. They had their flaws of
course. But they honored the law of God.

The Jewish law of God. And so I believe they would have all been raised
in good homes where they were taught to pray. And they would have gone
to the synagogues where they would have seen people praying.

The Pharisees especially. Long prayers. Religious prayers.

Prayers full of language. And that's what they saw. But then they saw
Jesus praying.

And that's when they go to Matthew 6 and they said Lord we don't know
how to pray. And you could have said well didn't you watch the
Pharisees? Yeah we we can say the same words. But you're praying
differently Jesus.

There's something about. Have you thought about it? When the disciples
asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. They already knew how to pray
like the Pharisees.

Like a good Jew. And the parallel for us today is that you probably know
how to play pray like a good religious Christian. How to say the right
words.

You start with Father this. And you end with in Jesus name Amen. And you
ask for certain things.

There's a format. Use those words. And then when you see a man or a
woman who knows how to pray or more than that.

You say Lord Jesus how did you pray? And then it'll change the way you
pray. Say Lord teach me how to pray like you prayed. I want to pray like
you prayed Lord.

Not not even like so-and-so man of God George Mueller. Yeah he's a
wonderful example. Hudson Taylor.

Wonderful example. All these men of God I hear about how they prayed.
And you answered their prayers.

That's great Lord. But you are the greatest example of all. How did you
pray? Have you heard from Jesus? Have you learned from Jesus how he
prayed? I hope after this message you will.

That the essence of what you get from this message will be. Lord I want
to learn from you how to pray. And it will change the way I pray.

And you'll start to answer. Because in the same way that the father
always heard Jesus. You will also hear always hear me.

Little child. It's wonderful. Romans 8 we read in verse 26.

In the middle of verse 26 it says we do not know how to pray as we
should. Very very important to remember. Very especially important for
those of us who are raised in Christian homes where we heard prayer.

And we hear prayer all the time. In a quote-unquote Christian nation
where they have prayer in the White House. And prayer in the Senate.

And all this stuff. And there's prayer is used as a common word. And
then we say Lord I see a lot of prayer.

But I don't even want to devalue the word prayer by using it in that
context. Teach me how to pray. Is the cry of your heart dear brothers
and sisters what it was for the disciples in Matthew 6? Teach us how to
pray.

Or it was in Luke I think that he says teach us how to pray. And then he
teaches them this prayer. And it's not just reciting that what they call
the Lord's Prayer.

Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name. And you recite it
like a ritual. No.

You know sadly many Christian denominations have missed it. Where they
just recite that prayer as a ritual. I never pray that prayer honestly.

Just reciting it as a ritual. I pray every part of that prayer in faith.
And I use my own words.

So we don't know how to pray as we are. But what does it mean then? How
can we really pray as we should? And I believe you see a few things here
in Romans 8 that would be good to look at. First of all what you see in
verse 15.

Romans 8 verse 15. You have not received a spirit of slavery leading to
fear again. But you received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we
cry out Abba Father.

The spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of
God. So first of all we must see that we're praying to a daddy. You're
talking to a daddy.

Dear children when you pray. I love it actually that you all children
when you pray in this church and I listen to your prayers. I see that
you're talking to a daddy.

A heavenly father. You call him father. You call him father.

He says heavenly father. My heavenly father. My daddy in heaven.

You've received the spirit of adoption. If you just pray like the rest
of the world does. Or even the rest of Christendom does.

Without having received this spirit of adoption within you. When you're
truly born again the Holy Spirit comes as a seed within you and it
changes the way you pray. That's one of the first thing that happens.

So remember you're praying to a daddy. Let's go down to verse 22 now.
And then he talks about how the whole creation groans and suffers the
pains of childbirth together until now.

So there is a groaning and a pain within creation. It might look like
the trees are blossoming and the mountains are full of the snow and all
this the rivers are flowing. But there's a groaning within it.

If you know the spirit. If you're in tune with the spirit. You'll hear
the groaning of creation.

Where? Not in the wind whistling in the trees. But within you. That
creation that's there.

Even when you see death in creation. You'll say that sounds familiar.
There's a groaning within me.

Verse 23. And not only this but also we ourselves have the first fruits
of the spirit. Even we ourselves groan within ourselves waiting eagerly
for our adoption as sons.

The redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved. But hope
that is seen is not hope.

For who hopes for what he already sees. But if we hope for what we do
not see with perseverance. We wait eagerly for it.

In the same way the spirit also helps our weaknesses. For we do not know
how to pray as we should. But the spirit himself intercedes for us with
groanings to be for words.

So what the Holy Spirit is teaching us here is that in order for us to
pray as we should. That must begin with a groaning within us. And I'll
tell you this is my honest testimony.

Over the last number of years. Three or four years especially I would
say. There's been a groaning within me.

And that groaning within me has transformed my prayers. I'll tell you
that groaning has come from seeing my own unchristlikeness. From having
an honest agreement with what God has shown me about my
unchristlikeness.

When I speak to my wife or my children in a harsh tone. I don't just
sort of shrug it away. It results in a groaning within me.

When I have a negative reaction to the driver who cuts me off. Because
he's driving in the slow lane at 40 miles an hour. That results a
groaning within me.

It says Lord I don't want to be that old person that I used to be. I
want to be like you. There's a groaning within me.

There's a groaning within me. And that groaning transforms our prayers.
The only way we can know how to pray as we should.

Is if there's a groaning within us. It's born. Born that means carried
or born also you can say from a groaning.

For a redemption of this body. I see this wretched flesh that I still
have. I see unchristlike still coming out within me.

And in moments where I blurred out something. Or I react in an irritable
way. I say there's a groaning within me.

I don't want to be that person anymore Lord help me. And God hears the
cries of such people. And he sends the Holy Spirit within us to help our
weaknesses.

He pours out the Holy Spirit within us. You know we cry often for the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit. There's many reasons why I believe the
Lord does not answer.

One is lack of faith. The other is perhaps a lack of thirst. The other
is the lack of groaning.

God sees that you say you want to be like him. And you see a little bit
of unchristlikeness. But after a little while you're just like okay I'll
get over it eventually.

And such a person can never be filled with the Holy Spirit. But the one
who says Lord I'm not going to let you go. I don't care about speaking
in tongues or gifts of prophecy anything.

More importantly than that Lord I want to be like you. So pour out your
Holy Spirit within me and give me control of this tongue with my wife
and with my children and with my co-workers and on the road when I'm
driving. And he sees that groaning with perseverance we read in verse
25.

Such a person receives the power of the Holy Spirit. And then we go on
reading the Spirit middle of verse 26. The Spirit himself intercedes for
us with groanings too deep for words.

That means it's beyond even words. Have you ever groaned in such a way
that you run out of words for that groaning? Let me ask you an honest
question. Have you ever groaned for the life of Christ within you with
such deep wailing and groaning? And maybe your wife sleeping in the bed
next to you doesn't even know that you're wailing.

But within you is a groaning. It's like your whole insides are being
eaten up. And then you don't even have words.

You run out of words to say. And then you know what happens after that?
The Holy Spirit says I'll take over the prayer from here. I'll pray on
your behalf.

I see that your intensity of your need is so great that you don't even
have words anymore. You've asked and you've run out of words to ask. And
you've fallen asleep asking.

And then the Holy Spirit takes over that prayer. Do you believe that? Oh
I believe it. I've seen the fruit of it in my life.

Where I'm crying. I wake up in the middle of the night at two o'clock.
And I'm mourning in my heart.

It was something the Lord's convicted me about. And then I fall asleep.
I wake up in the next morning and the Lord reminds me.

You know what who kept praying after you fell asleep? I did. The Holy
Spirit carried on that prayer because He saw the groaning within your
heart. Oh what comfort it brings my heart.

When God Himself is praying for my need. Do you think there's any doubt
that that need won't get answered? Oh I'm sure of it. The Spirit Himself
intercedes on our behalf for us with groanings to thee for words.

And He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is
because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And
true prayer will always be according to the will of God. So some
meditate on these verses.

I don't even think I scratched the surface of the depth of life that's
here in them. I want to tell you three stories of Jesus in Jesus life
from the Gospels that are a tremendous blessing for me in prayer. The
first is in Luke chapter 19.

How we should pray. Luke 19. And it's a story that you might not
associate with prayer.

But I hope it will from now on. Luke chapter 19. I would say it this
way.

Pray to receive Christ's burden. Pray so that you can receive Christ's
burden. See I know what it's we know what it's like to pray for our
burden.

I have a burden Lord. My child is sick or I have this other problem. I
need a job or I don't have enough money for this or even even spiritual
victory.

I'm lacking victory in this area. Those are your burdens. But I believe
true prayers when we pray to receive Christ's burden starts there.

Lord what is your burden? And even if your burden is a spiritual burden
where you're defeated in sin. If you can start your prayer and says Lord
give me your burden and you see that Christ's burden is for your victory
as well. For the power of his for his power his resurrection power to be
manifest in your body.

Then it answers the problem of victory over sin immediately. Lord give
me your burden. And this has come alive for me in the story of this colt
of a donkey that Jesus used to sit on when he came into Jerusalem.

Luke 19 we read in verse 29 onwards. And now the way we understand it if
you read Matthew 21 the colt's mother was with her. There was two
donkeys when Jesus was coming in.

There was the donkey and its colt. Now a donkey is a despised animal. I
already talked about that last week.

In fact I think it's in Matthew it's called the beast of burden. Matthew
21 when he quotes from Zachariah he says he's riding on a beast of
burden. Let's look at that very quickly if I remember correctly.

Matthew 21 yeah verse 5 say to the daughter of Zion say to you who are
crying out in need say to her say to him behold your king is coming to
you gentle and mounted on a donkey even on a colt the foal of a beast of
burden the child of a beast of burden. This is the phrase the Lord gave
me some time ago. Santosh do you want to pray for you want to pray
meaningful prayers.

He says learn to become a beast of burden. What does a beast mean? Beast
is one that's taken advantage of. You just put a load on it says here
yeah you take care of the beast of course but it's a beast of burden.

It's goal in life. It's purpose in life. That's what I was looking for
is to just carry burdens.

I have a challenge for us dear brothers and sisters. There are many
people in Christendom that are aspiring to be preachers, song leaders,
prophets and do miracles all that. God is looking for beasts of burden.

I believe that in all my heart. God is looking in RLCF for beasts of
burden. People on whom God can lay his burden.

His burden for the church. His burden for the community around us and it
becomes a heavy burden. How heavy do you think Jesus was? I don't know.

I would assume he's about as heavy as some of us and imagine that baby
donkey carrying the weight of Jesus physical body on it. Jesus was
giving us a picture I believe of prayer and when that burden becomes so
heavy for you says Lord I want to carry your burden. I tell you when you
read the prayers of godly men and women.

It caused them some pain when Jesus himself took on the burden that the
father was laying on him. You know what it was like? Blood started
pouring out of his skin. If you went to the place where Jesus prayed in
Gethsemane, you would see a pool of blood down there.

That's a picture for me. It says Lord I haven't even come close. I
haven't resisted to the point of shedding blood like you did.

I may never have to but I want to have your burden Lord. Whether it's
sweat or blood or late hours in the night where I'm interceding on the
behalf of somebody else that's beyond even my family or my circle
because somebody's praying and I'm willing to stay up and pray. Oh what
God can do.

Now I'm not trying to give you a formula therefore you must pray for a
certain amount of time or anything like that. It could be a two-minute
prayer but it's a prayer of burden. It's a prayer of burden where God
has planted a burden in your heart.

You're praying with that. Oh God moves through such prayers. A beast of
burden.

So it says when he approached Bethphage back in Luke 19 verse 29 Bethany
near the mount that is called Olivet. He sent two of the disciples
saying go into the village ahead of you. There as you enter you will
find a cold tide on which no one yet has ever sat.

Untie it and bring it here and if anyone asks you why are you untying it
you shall say the Lord has need of it. It's another phrase the Lord has
brought to my mind in the context of prayer. The Lord needs you.

The Lord needs you not to do a great work, not to preach sermons, not to
do anything that's fancy in the eyes of the world but to be his beast of
burden. The Lord needs you children. I want to speak to you plainly.

The Lord needs you to pray. This church RLCF needs you to pray. Pray
knowing that God hears your prayer.

Oh what a difference this church will be if all of us can take and say
Lord lay a burden on me today onwards. I prayed sort of callously. Yeah
I joined the prayer meetings and I pray but it's my turn.

I pray and I take my turn but it's quite a different thing. Being a
beast of burden means you're praying out of turn in season and out of
season. The Lord is laying his burden on you and you're praying.

Nobody knows you're praying. It's not prayer meeting time but you're
praying. See this cult wasn't given an appointment.

At such and such a time Jesus wants to sit on you. No. Two disciples
came saying here take him away and Jesus is going to sit on you.

This is a beast of burden. The Lord has need of it and so these who were
sent away went away and found it just as he has told them and as verse
33 as they were untying the coat its owner said to them and that's the
thing you see the untying. Prayer is an untying.

Praise is an untying. Oh my my prayers my prayers of praise have become
more untied lately and I hope they will be for you as well. I sat for
years in churches where I just watched the praise team sing.

I just sat there silently and I hummed along and sang quietly and then I
was untied like this coat and the Holy Spirit came upon me and started
to fill me with the spirit of praise and I wanted to sing. It didn't
matter if I was up here or down there. I wanted to sing.

So a lot of people want to be up here here or in other churches but when
we can learn to for the Holy Spirit to untie our tongue where we praise
him we sing him we sing to him. This coat was untied and then of course
as they were untying it the owners the people who used to keep this coat
tied up your flesh your introverted temperament your the person you've
always been that says well no I've never sung in church what will people
think if all of a sudden I start singing I've always been the quiet one
nobody could ever hear me now now if I start singing loudly I'll be an
embarrassment that's the devil that's your flesh trying to tie you up
and says no don't sing loud no remain tied up the owners who are the
owners of your praise of your tongue let me ask you that who are the
owners of your tongue has nothing to do with your temperament has
nothing to do with how you've always been I say I invite you dear
brother dear sister child let the Lord untie your temperament let the
Lord untie your tongue and sing and praise him like you've never praised
him before oh it will open the floodgates over your life the power of
the Holy Spirit will come upon the windows of heaven will open upon I've
experienced it I tell you I have you might think when you see me sing or
you hear me preach that I'm I have a temperament that's like that when I
when I was 18 or 19 years old actually beginning from about 13 or so I
think I was a little bit of an expert when I was younger and then I went
into a shell in my teenage years if I recall correctly and I became very
introverted and just insecure and I was like that for many years and the
Lord changed me he untied me and I pray oh dear family I pray that he
will untie you I think some of you may be in that place I'm not here to
judge you not here to judge you at all please know that I think some of
you may be tied up I think some of you may be tied up and the will so
these owners this picture of Satan and our lusts ruled their minds and
ruled their tongues ruled our tongues for so many years and you let's
talk about this gift of tongues first of all just briefly in passing you
know I believe in the gift of tongues and the Lord has given me that
gift years ago but you probably never heard me speak in tongues that's
okay because if you read first Corinthians 14 carefully whenever there's
a gift of tongues there must be an interpretation and that gift must
have a purpose in most churches that believe in the gift of tongues
please say they believe in it it's misused it's used not according to
the way scripture says it should be used that would be like me
blabbering a bunch of stuff like I used to when I was about six months
old and convincing you that I'm speaking English and you'd say no I know
English that's not and somebody who truly knows is in touch with the
Holy Spirit will be able to discern fairly quickly whether somebody's
just moving their tongue and muttering a bunch of syllables or they're
actually speaking a prophetic word in the gift of tongues and Paul says
that he uses the gift for example he uses the gift privately as a praise
to him but let's talk about the gift of tongues if you Paul says I hope
that I wish that all of you did speak in tongues he does say that we're
told more earnestly desire especially prophecy it's okay to seek for the
gift of tongues but I say it like this I found that the gift of tongues
is the overflow of praise in my English tongue when you find that praise
is building up and building up and building up and building up in
English and then you run out of words it's like Lord I'm really taken up
with who you are what you've done for me I praise you exalt you and and
I don't know anything else to say in English he'll give you the gift of
tongues but if you find that you okay I thank you Lord and I sing for
him now and then I sing for him on Sunday morning for about 20 minutes
but during the week I'm not really taken up with the spirit of praise
that's a cup that's a quarter full or a tenth full that says why isn't
it overflowing because it's only a tenth full and I tell you brothers
and sisters if you want God to transform your tongue whether he gives
you the gift of tongues or not that's really not as important let him
fill you with the spirit of praise in English sing I'll tell you
something I used to do when and I used to be embarrassed about it then
now I'm not so much anymore because I see God loosened my tongue through
it when I was younger and when I was in my late 20s I think I would if
I'd be discouraged maybe I'd fall into some area perhaps and I'd be
discouraged or I'd see that I see the potential of what God could do in
my life and how far I was from it I'd be discouraged and then I did
something that really helped me I want to say that as an example to you
you can try it if you want I was single at the time and I would drive my
car and I found CDs of hymns of praise and I would crank up the volume
and I would sing louder than the CD and if you were driving by me at the
time you think this is a crazy guy like the windows are rolled up and
he's you know he's shaking his hands and his mouth is moving really loud
and the music's really loud and he's singing even louder than the music
but I tell you that the Lord loosened my tongue through it find some
good not don't find this fluffy stuff that's on the radio these days buy
a CD of some good old hymns that are sung with a spirit of praise and
back then I used to listen to Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir there's some
wonderful gospel hymns they sing or Times Square Church Praise Choir is
to listen to gospel hymns like that and I sing loud because I didn't
know how to sing loud in public and the more I sang loud all alone in my
car I still learned how to sing loud okay now I'm not in my car anymore
but Jesus is the same yesterday today and forever and he has filled up
my cup to overflowing and I can't hide this anymore I've hit it for
years and now it overflowed so that's that's praise and if and tongues I
believe is primarily intended to do that to set people free from a
spirit of discouragement and heaviness and so that that spirit of
heaviness can be released and untied that colt that sat there for so
many years God wants to untie it and set it free but if he sees that you
just want the gift of tongues to impress people in the meeting impress
people in the church that you have a gift what they think is tongues and
or even to satisfy your own conscience that you're filled with the Holy
Spirit because you have tongues oh the devil will lead you astray so
don't be fooled by that but if the the essence of this is learn to
praise and let that praise build up to overflowing and let God decide if
he gives you enough English words that's enough what does it matter if
you speak in a heavenly tongue if you have the words in English that's
great but if you don't and the praise is still growing perhaps he'll
give you the gift of tongues it's I think of it like bursting a dam you
know you've got this dam that's held up and the praise is building up
building up the pressure is building up building up building up the
water is pressing against this wall has been it's been dammed up for so
long this mouth has been closed up for so long and it's but the praise
is building up the Holy Spirit is groaning within me it's building up
building up and one day it just bursts forth in any language doesn't
matter let the Lord be the judge the decider of what language it should
be in yeah so um and then we read in verse 35 they brought it to Jesus
and they threw their coats on their coats on the coat and put Jesus on
it it's another phrase that's really blessed me what it means to pray
Lord put yourself on me you you had a body here on this earth there was
a coat of a donkey that you found and you put yourself on it Lord put
yourself on me as I pray pray this way the next time you pray even if
it's for a meal there you are sitting with your wife and your children
or your family around a meal and you're saying gonna pray Lord we're
blessed this meal pray this way I remember hearing the testimony of
David Wilkerson from his son Gary at at at David Wilkerson's memorial
service after he passed away and his son said one thing I remember about
my child my father from a young age when he would pray it's like Jesus
would actually come and sit there at the table even for a meal I I've
never forgotten that that's why I believe that man was used so
tremendously of God and I I've thought about that often now when I pray
I don't yeah I'm reminded of what David Wilkerson's testimony was I can
say Lord but this is how I want to pray you come and sit you put your
burden on me even for this food that we're about to eat see then it's no
longer about whether you'll get a bellyache from the food it's not about
that is that why we pray I really don't care about the bellyache I say
Lord I want you to be on me as I pray for this meal I want you to be on
me as I'm going to work I want you to be on me as my lay my hands on my
children lay yourself on me Lord I want to become I want you to become
my burden like it was for this cult let's turn over to Matthew 26 what
it means to carry Christ's burden we read the sad story of Peter James
and John when they were in the garden of Gethsemane with Jesus Matthew
26 verse 36 begin reading in Matthew 26 verse 36 when Jesus came with
them this is Peter James and John oh sorry this was actually all 12 or
11 of them Judas had already left and he said to his disciples sit here
while I go over there and pray now if Jesus was to tell you come here
and say hey would you mind sitting here in this chair and I'm going to
go in the back room and pray what will you do what the disciples was did
was they sat in the chair says okay we'll wait for Jesus to be done
praying then he'll come back they weren't filled with the Holy Spirit
yet you know what a spiritual person would say Lord Jesus are you going
to pray in the back room that's where I want to be I'm going to sit here
and wait for you to be done with your prayer Lord how are you praying
and today Jesus is at the right hand of the Father we read interceding
for us day and night Hebrews chapter 7 and now he says I'm going to go
over there in the back room at the right hand of the Father and pray
what do you want to do sit here no Lord I'm not going to sit here I want
to be with you I want to hold hands with you oh that the disciples had
said Lord why are you going over there to pray can't I come with you and
pray it would have changed their lives and he took with him Peter and
two sons of Zebedee James and John says okay he began to be grieved and
distressed look at the burden that was on Jesus heart and these
disciples knew nothing of it they'd walked with him for three and a half
years saw all the things that he did saw how he prayed and yet they had
no clue about the burdens that he was carrying have you walked with
Jesus for many years and yet you'd have no idea what his burdens are oh
it's convicting me even as I sit here says Lord I've been a Christian
for over 40 years I think I believe and I think many of those years I I
spent not even knowing what your burden was I didn't care I just wanted
to go to heaven I was glad that you forgave my sins but I didn't I
didn't pause for a moment to say Lord what's your burden in the midst of
this maybe Jesus look at Jesus he says he began to be grieved and
distressed the son of God here on this earth grieved and distressed I
believe it's true today grieved and distressed over what he sees in
Christendom have you prayed and says Lord your name is dishonored by
false prophets and false preachers by people who love money people who
love the attention of people making a name for themselves you're grieved
and distressed there Lord I want to partner and pray for that that your
name is dishonored and then he said to them my soul then he even said it
to them my soul is deeply grieved to the point of death remain here and
keep watch with me and then he went a little beyond them and they
knowing that Jesus was distressed and grieved says oh I guess he needs
some quiet time by himself and he fell on his face and prayed saying my
father if it is possible let this cup pass for me yet not as I will as
you will and then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping
here's Jesus blood pouring out of his skin and the disciples are
sleeping oh you can't stay up it's good that we have early morning
prayer meetings sometimes not all the time we don't expect you come here
every morning but sometimes it's good why because I believe if you're
not willing to give up sleep you probably have no idea about what
Christ's burden is if sleep is more precious to you you're not really
willing to let Christ lay his burden on you I find that some of my
sweetest times of intimacy are around two or three in the morning where
I can't sleep I say Lord I don't really care to go back to sleep as much
as long as you meet with me and lay your burden on me there's a reason
you woke me up at this unearthly hour and uh and it's not because I
stayed up till then just so you know I used to do that I fall asleep but
all of a sudden I wake up and I can't fall back to sleep I know I've got
a day of work waiting for me I've got meetings coming up at nine in the
morning but Lord there's something far greater than whether I make that
meeting or not or how tired I am during the day that you will lay your
burden on me brothers when we come to the prayer meeting on Saturday can
we come with that that sense of burden and need even if I'm the only one
here what if you show up on Saturday morning and everybody else forgot
we've got to send a reminder we forgot that we plan to pray but you're
here because Jesus is grieved over something and he wants to lay his
burden on you it has nothing to do with the rest of the church it's you
that's why I say if you don't come on Saturday morning to the prayer
meeting but you're at home praying by yourself then that's great because
the Lord has laid a burden on your heart I believe it's even better to
do it together when the Lord can lay his burden collectively on our
hearts and then he says he came to the disciples and found them sleeping
40 verse 40 he said to Peter so you men could not even keep watch with
me for one hour keep watching and praying that you may not enter into
temptation the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak keep watching and
praying that you may not enter into temptation read it carefully I
missed it for years I thought he was saying keep watching and praying
that you will overcome in temptation he was saying keep watching and
praying that you don't even enter into temptation that means there are
some temptations that God doesn't even want me to enter into I believe
that every temptation that he allows me to go through he will give me
victory over I trust him for that but you know there's some temptation
says I didn't even want you to be tempted in that area but the reason
you were is because you couldn't watch and pray there's no wonder you
all of a sudden faced that temptation that was beyond your ability keep
watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation he said that
in Matthew 6 lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil are
you praying Lord there are temptations coming up this day that I don't
even want to face that you don't want me to face watch and pray keep
your eyes open for that temptation that's ahead so that you take another
path and avoid it if you know that that's there's a temptation there
that's going there if you know that going to that work party will result
in a temptation don't go doesn't matter what connections you lose what
networking you miss out on but there's a temptation there whether it's
alcohol or a flirtatious woman or some other conversation in the
workplace skip that meeting lead us not into temptation watch and pray
so that you may not enter temptation and the Lord will if you really let
him lay his burden on your heart say don't even go there now yeah skip
it if you're addicted to something on your phone or the computer he'll
say turn it off don't even turn it on today because there's a temptation
there that you're not able to handle right now don't even don't even
enter into it watching and praying so there's some temptations that we
shouldn't even have entered into um so that's the first praying to
receive Christ's burden mark chapter 10 let's look at this mark chapter
10 you know I think I'll end there I probably have much more to say on
prayer so uh let's pray Lord I pray that I will pray more like you did I
see how you prayed Lord I know a little bit and I want to pray as you
prayed and I want the Holy Spirit to come and fill me more and more with
this burden for prayer that you have Lord for this burden for those
around me whether it's my wife my children those in this church and
others you've placed within my circle and others that you want to place
in my circle that aren't there yet oh Lord pour your spirit upon us I
pray that we'll be a praying church an interceding church a church
that's in tune with you in in touch with you connected with you at the
right hand of the Father interceding on behalf of others around us oh
Lord I pray pour your spirit upon us may not just be a stirring we
receive this morning Lord but a changed life that the way we pray even
for something small that seems small is through burden your burden lay
yourselves on us lay yourself on us Lord Jesus through your Holy Spirit
it's not just fiction we've heard it's not just some ideology Lord but a
life that you want us to enter into and I believe you will do it for us
for any who are hungry any who are willing to let to become beasts of
burden for you thank you in Jesus name amen

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Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/rGD10qdWwhk.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/santosh-poonen/letting-christ-lay-his-burden-on-us/
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