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“There is no misery like a lonely heart.”

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“And son, would you like to know the cure?”

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“So you can tell my people tomorrow?”

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I said: “Yes!”

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The cure is to be alone with Jesus.

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The cure is to be alone with Jesus.

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Now that means loneliness is different from aloneness.

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Jesus wants time alone with you.

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In John 4, you have the story of the Samaritan woman, okay?

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Jesus at the well.

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Do you remember that?

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She had five husbands and she was living currently in adultery.

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But God arranged everything so that the woman can be alone

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with the wonderful Shepherd who sought her.

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Amen!

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The cure for a lonely heart is to be alone with Jesus,

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who knows everything about you, but yet draws so near to you.

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A God who stooped down so low to even be dependent on her

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for a drop of water to quench His thirst.

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What a God, what a God!

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Amen!

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And He says to her: “Give Me water to drink.”

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And she says: “How come”

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“You are a Jew, asking me, a Samaritan for water.”

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“The Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.”

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And Jesus says: “Woman, if you knew who is the One”

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“talking with you, and who is it that says to you,”

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“‘Give Me a drink,’ you would ask Him,”

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“and He would give you living waters.”

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And she says: “How can you do it?”

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“You don’t have any rope, nothing, how can you”

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“draw from this deep well.”

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And Jesus says: “The water that you drink from here,”

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“you would thirst again.”

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Alright, now don’t forget, later on we find out she has

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had five husbands.

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So do you think Jesus was talking about the water?

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When you drink this water you would thirst again.

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Obviously, He’s talking about her search for love,

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her thirst for true love.

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If you drink from human relationships,

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alright, just solely from human relationships,

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you can be thirsty again.

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But Jesus says: “But if you ask Me,”

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“I’ll produce in you a well of living waters”

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“and you will never thirst again.”

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So a lot of people, they have a thirst.

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I’m not talking about physical thirst.

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I’m talking about emotional thirst, spiritual thirst.

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You know, they think that the thirst can be quenched

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by going for a holiday.

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They come back thirsty, sometimes more thirsty.

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They feel like the thirst can be quenched by

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getting into a relationship, alright, illicit even,

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but the thirst is not quenched.

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So they are looking for the quenching of their thirst outside them,

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when Jesus says:

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“I’ll produce inside you a well, springing up into everlasting life.”

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Are you listening?

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When you are alone with Jesus, I can’t begin to tell you the

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number of times, you feel that something is flowing on the inside.

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Amen!

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And when you meet people, you just speak, people are refreshed,

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people are blessed, people are helped.

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They love to have you around.

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Amen!

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Why is it that Jesus revealed her sin to her?

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Why is it that Jesus wanted her to know that He knows

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she had five husbands?

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Is the Lord just exposing our sins to shame us?

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No, don’t forget I told you, God arranged in such a way,

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even His disciples are not around to hear this.

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Alone with Jesus.

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Do you know why He wanted her to know that He knows

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everything about her?

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Because you will never know that you are loved until

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you know that person knows everything about you

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and still loves you.

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What’s with us, that with all our

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advancement in technology, with all the social media,

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we are supposed to be more connected, isn’t it?

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And yet, we are not connected.

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We are supposed to have more friends,

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and yet we are never so lonely.

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What is it about all the luxuries of modern life

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and the easy access with a fingertip, with a touch that we have

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for this generation that yet, of all generations,

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we are the most unsatisfied.

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You don’t look to the likes to get your joy.

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Amen.

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So we are so connected to the point that we

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look for affirmation.

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We are such a me generation.

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Alright, we have me-fi, we-fi, it’s all about me, you know.

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In the previous generation, we don’t have that.

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But now, it’s like we want the affirmation, we want people

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to see what we are doing.

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We want them to see we are eating Char Kway Teow,

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we are doing this now.

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I am now in the toilet, sitting on the toilet bowl, you know.

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I mean, in our minds, we think that people really bother,

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when actually a lot of people don’t care.

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Amen.

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So, we cannot get our affirmation from people.

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And a crowd can be screaming your celebration,

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alright today, and shout for your crucifixion next week.

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Jesus found that out.

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Amen.

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1 week they were shouting: “Hosanna to the son of David!”

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The very next week, they shouted: “Crucify Him!”

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And here, Jesus was entering Jericho, this city of curse.

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And the Bible says:

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“He made His way through the town.”

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“There was a man there named Zacchaeus.”

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“He was a chief tax collector.”

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Look at verse 3.

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“He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see”

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“over the crowd”.

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Again, there’s the crowd.

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Sometimes we are so conscious of the crowd, we don’t see Jesus.

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It’s not important what the crowd thinks of you.

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It’s not important how many likes you get on your social media.

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It’s not very important what people say about you.

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The question is: “Can you see Jesus?”

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Because if you can see Jesus, you will see His eyes of love for you.

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You will see that He is longing for you.

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You think you are looking for Him.

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He is looking for you.

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Amen.

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So here Zacchaeus was trying to see Jesus.

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Can you imagine, right now, whenever there is a crowd,

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there is a lot of noise, a lot of din and bustle

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and the cacophony of noises in the midst of the crowd,

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and he is trying to jump over the shoulders of the people

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to take a look at Jesus.

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And he can’t because the Bible says that he was short.

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“For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

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Right.

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So he trying to see.

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He can’t find a way to see Jesus, but he wanted to see Jesus.

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Whenever you want to see Jesus, Jesus is looking out for you.

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Let me tell you something else, the more you want to see Jesus,

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the more Jesus wants to see you.

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There is something about the crowd.

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Amen.

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In the midst of the cacophony of all the noises and all that,

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He will look up and He will pay attention to one person

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who is out to look at Him.

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“But Pastor Prince, all the crowd is trying to see him right?”

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No, there’s a kind of look that looks to you like—

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It is one thing to look at a person swimming in the sea.

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But if you are in the sea and you are drowning,

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and you look for the lifesaver, you look at the life guard,

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the way you look is different.

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This is looking unto.

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Amen.

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And Zacchaeus had a look unto, and that kind of look

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is what brings life.

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Amen.

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One look for the Saviour and you will live.

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One look and you'll be transformed.

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One look and you'll be healed.

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This is how the Lord is like.

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So all the while Zacchaeus thought he was looking for Jesus.

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He didn't realise Jesus was looking for him.

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Have you heard of the prayer called:

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“Just tell it to Jesus.”

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“Do you have any cares or anxieties?”

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“Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus.”

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Do you feel like your friends have forsaken you?

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What a friend we have in Jesus.

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Tell it to Jesus.

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Have you ever told it to Jesus before?

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Have you ever taken a walk, and said:

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“God, I don’t know how to pray.”

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“Lord Jesus I feel You are walking with me because I know”

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enough that You never leave me nor forsake me.”

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“And can I just tell you Lord, I am worried about this,”

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“I am worried about that.”

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You don’t know that you are actually casting your cares on Him!

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Now don’t let anyone hear it.

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It’s just you and Jesus.

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And I’m telling you.

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Just talking to Him.

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I can’t begin to explain to you.

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Not exactly everything in those words,

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I am just illustrating.

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But the more honest you are with Him,

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I can’t explain to you.

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Even before you ask: “Lord give me the grace.”

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It’s amazing you know that He has imparted strength to you.

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By the end of that walk, with Jesus, it’s like:

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“Wow!

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Something has changed.

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I don’t know what it is.”

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“I don’t feel—I am not so anxious and careful anymore.”

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“Something happened.”

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Just tell it to Jesus.

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And then you’ll realise He is really a friend.

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It’s not just a song.

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“What a friend we have in Jesus.”

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“Is my voice louder than his?”

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“All our sins and grief to bear.”

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What is going on?

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This is not Mr. Bean.

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It’s no more a hymn.

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All of a sudden you realise:

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“He’s my friend!

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He’s a friend that I can share with.”

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And no wonder—prayer!

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You know, spending time over coffee with a dear friend.

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Hours pass and before you know it, my goodness!

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But prayer, it’s like you look at the clock.

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Those days, they say the one hour prayer,

9:45

so you look at the clock.

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And I remember they used that statement, or that question

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that Jesus asked His disciples.

9:52

Jesus asked: “Could you not tarry one hour.”

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Actually He asked the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane.

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It was not a law.

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We even twist a question into a law.

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And we say: “Can’t you tarry one hour.”

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So we do our best, we put our clock, alright?

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And then we pray.

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And then we really, really, really pray.

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And we really thought we prayed for a long time.

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We look up—ten minutes.

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“Oh my goodness!”

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Can you imagine me going to my wife and saying:

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“Alright.

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You’ve been asking me to spend time with you.”

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“Communicating with you.”

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“You told me that communication is the lifeblood of marriage.”

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“Alright baby, your time starts now.

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Phoosh!”

10:30

She will say: “I’m going home.”

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Right?

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Amen.

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No.

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So there is a place for a prayer of faith.

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There is a prayer.

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In fact to talk to Him is faith!

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You are not happy about somebody, talk to the Lord.

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You are angry with somebody, talk to the Lord.

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Hey you can even tell the Lord you are angry with Him.

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But talk to Him.

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Tell it to Jesus.

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He cares.

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The Bible says casting all your cares to Him, upon Him.

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The reason?

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Because He cares for you.

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He cares for you.