God, Do You Hear Me?: Discover the Prayer God Always Answers

Table of Contents

Foreword

Chapter 1: Sandcastles

Section I: Discovering Who Our Father Is

Chapter 2: Our Father Is Loving

Chapter 3: Our Father Is Sovereign

Chapter 4: Our Father Is Holy

Chapter 5: Our Father Is Yahweh

Chapter 6: Our Father Is Good

Section II: Discovering God’s Kingdom and Your Priestly Role in It

Chapter 7: Participating in Abba’s Kingdom

Chapter 8: Proclaiming Abba’s Kingdom

Chapter 9: Abba’s Kids Personify the Kingdom

Chapter 10: Pursuing Abba’s Kingdom of Love

Section III: Depending on the Bread of Life

Chapter 11: Soul Food from Heaven

Chapter 12: Worship > Worry

Section IV: Diving into God’s Forgiveness

Chapter 13: How Can I Forgive?

Chapter 14: Forgiveness Matters

Section V: Developing a Wartime Mindset

Chapter 15: Developing a Wartime Mindset

Chapter 16: Inhabiting Prayer

Derwin Gray gives readers a fresh word on prayer. He illuminates, illustrates, and communicates the hope we all need to find strength in divine communion. There is much we can do after we pray. There is nothing we should do before we pray. Pastor Gray’s words will help you bend your knees and then stand in faith.

Max Lucado, pastor and author

Everyone at one point in their lives finds themselves asking big questions about God. One of them being, Do my prayers matter?, and thankfully we have a resource from Dr. Gray helping us see the ways our prayers change us, connect us to God, and lead us to worship Him.

Jamie Ivey, bestselling author and host of The Happy Hour with Jamie Ivey podcast

This is the book on the power of prayer that this generation needs. In these eye-opening pages, my friend Derwin Gray graciously reveals what God’s Word actually says about the life that’s available to us when we live a life of prayer. God, Do You Hear Me? will reignite a fire within you to know God for real, and to experience the full life he has for you. These words will transform how you see God, how you talk to God, and how you live.

Hosanna Wong, international speaker, spoken word artist, and author of How (Not) to Save the World

It’s impossible to grow in the spiritual life without a commitment to prayer. Yet, where do we begin? This was the question Jesus’ first disciples asked, and it gets repeated in every generation. This is why I’m so thankful for Derwin Gray and this book. With winsome storytelling, fresh perspectives, and rich theology, Derwin guides us through the most important prayer Jesus taught us. I’ll be recommending this to many!

Rich Villodas, lead pastor of New Life Fellowship and author of The Deeply Formed Life

Simply put, Dr. Derwin Gray has done it again. His words have taken me on a theological journey that has reminded me of who my Father is and who I am to my Father. Do your soul a favor, read this book.

Albert Tate, lead pastor of Fellowship Church

Copyright © 2021 by Derwin Gray

All rights reserved.

978-1-5359-9574-0

Published by B&H Publishing Group

Nashville, Tennessee

Dewey Decimal: 226.96

Subject Heading: PRAYER / LORD’S PRAYER / JESUS CHRIST—PRAYERS

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Also used: New Living Translation (

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), copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Also used: New International Version®, NIV® (

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), copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Cover design by A. Micah Smith.

Author photo © Transformation Church.

Published in association with The Bindery Agency,

www.TheBinderyAgency.com.

It is the Publisher’s goal to minimize disruption caused by technical errors or invalid websites. While all links are active at the time of publication, because of the dynamic nature of the internet, some web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed and may no longer be valid. B&H Publishing Group bears no responsibility for the continuity or content of the external site, nor for that of subsequent links. Contact the external site for answers to questions regarding its content.

To Vicki:

I dedicate God, Do You Hear Me? to you.

You are the love of my life,

my best friend.

You have inspired me in more ways than I can count.

Your love for Jesus and our children makes me want to be a better man.

You serve Transformation Church with deep gospel convictions and an elegance in leadership that is infectious and powerful.

Acknowledgments

Writing a book is a team sport. I have a fabulous team. Chris, Alex, and Kristel, thank you. Your contributions are priceless, your friendship is invaluable, and your support is immeasurable. Bravo Team PD! Well done!

Presley and Jeremiah, thanks for believing in your dad. Your support and encouragement mean the world to me. You inspire me to be the best I can be.

To the B&H team, thank you. You make writing books fun! And thank you for believing in me as an author.

I want to thank my agent, Alexander Field, for his encouragement and support.

And finally, to the Transformation Church Family, thank you! As I pray for you, as I serve you, God the Holy Spirit is growing me as a disciple of King Jesus. May God, Do You Hear Me? teach us to pray.

Foreword

There’s something different about a person who prays. I mean, a person who really prays. My friend Derwin is this kind of person. I’m not sure I’ve ever met someone more committed to bringing everything back to Jesus. The way he thinks is a direct reflection of the way he prays. The way he speaks is a reflection of the way he prays. And the way he doesn’t seem to freak out about things is a reflection of the way he prays.

And what makes those around him want to lean in to his wisdom on prayer is that he’s not annoying about the effectiveness of his prayer life. He owns it. But he doesn’t flaunt it. He is settled and secure without being condescending or cocky.

But I think the most important thing you should know is that his life isn’t void of truly crappy and chaotic hardships. He’s like me. He’s like you. His life gets hard sometimes. It doesn’t all tie up in a nice, neat bow. He gets hurt, confused, and caught off guard. He is sometimes overlooked and underappreciated. He has questions, unresolved issues, and things he wishes were different about both his private world and the world at large. And that’s why he’s so very qualified to write a book to help the rest of us confidently pray while constantly wrestling through stuff.

He is highly educated in theology but also acutely aware of the realities of humanity.

That’s precisely the reason I can trust the words penned on these pages. I can’t handle being preached at about how I need to do better in my prayer life. I already know that. And honestly, I feel kind of blah and want to roll my eyes when people with much more tidy lives than mine try to attribute my hardships to something I’m lacking in my prayer life. Nothing like having a little salt poured into a gaping wound, right?!

Derwin’s life doesn’t smell as stuffy as a library or as sterile as a laboratory. Its aroma is authenticity with a healthy splash of hardship.

This is what I need in a book on prayer. It’s not that I need my prayers to be longer or more official sounding or more consistent. And it’s definitely not that my prayers need to be organized or impressive. No, they need to be more connected to the heart of Jesus. The compassion of Jesus. The gentle grace and unwavering truth of Jesus. The strength and stamina of Jesus. And the reality of Jesus.

I often stress about my issues. Fret about my fears. Talk about my turmoil. Process my problems. Seek help and wisdom and counsel from smart people. And all of that can be healthy and good.

But, have I really prayed about it all? Too many times I’ve only thought about it and stressed over it. And therein lies the problem. I’m missing out on tapping into the power of the One who knows all, carries all, and covers all with a peace that passes understanding. Those other activities can be a resource but they can’t ever be the source from where my real help comes.

I think the only regret you’ll have in diving into this book is that you didn’t have it sooner. But for such a time as this, let’s together open it now and prepare to be understood and overwhelmed by what’s really possible with prayer.

Lysa TerKeurst

CHAPTER 1

Sandcastles

I have never been much of a swimmer. Actually, the real story is, I can’t swim.

Once on vacation in Grenada, I was splashing around in the beautiful turquoise water, attempting to swim. I suspect my attempt must have looked like a comedy routine because some local boys said to me in an epic accent, Look at you, man! You can’t even swim with all those big muscles! I looked at them and said in what I was hoping to be a Grenadian accent, No man! I can’t swim! I never learned how! Even now, all these years later, it brings a smile to my face.

I am not really a beach or ocean kind of guy either, but my wife and children love being on the sand. My daughter, Presley, loves it so much that she chose to go to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, a beach community not too far from Oak Island. Oak Island is a place my daughter and I treasure. It is our own Narnia, a mystical, mysterious meeting place where our hearts bonded. From ages seven to eighteen, Presley would accompany me as my wing-woman to Oak Island where I would preach at a summer youth camp. I watched her grow from an elementary student, through the awkward middle school years, into a beautiful senior in high school, on these weeklong summer adventures. We made so many beautiful memories over the years, from chasing each other through the old military forts to eating sushi every night for dinner, and having lunch at Provisions, where we would order the famous 1 Pound Shrimp Special.

God uses places and spaces to connect us to his heart and to each other. The beach is one of those places for the House of Gray. My family loves the beach and ocean, but, me, not so much. It’s not where I would choose to go by myself, but out of love for my people and the smiles it brings to their faces, I go and go often.

Here is my beach routine: I marinate on the beach, chillaxing in a beach chair under a canopy that blocks the sun. Then I cover myself with a large beach towel that blocks the sunrays that escaped the canopy. I get my Bible, a good theology book, a cold, fruity drink, and I enjoy myself in the shade.

Why, you ask? First, as I already said, I can’t swim. Second, there are creatures in the ocean that can eat me. In my mind, I believe a tiger shark would find me appealing to eat. At 5’11", 260 pounds of pure dark muscularity, I’d be like a gourmet meal. No thanks! Derwin is not getting in the water. Third, the Lord has blessed me with an incredible tan, so there is no need for me to cook myself like a rotisserie chicken in the sun.

Rising Tides, Roaring Wind, and Crashing Waves

Do you ever watch kids build sandcastles on the beach? When I’m sitting under my umbrella, I enjoy watching them, because they are so patient and meticulous about building something that they know will be soon wiped away by the rising tide and crashing waves. As I marinate on this thought, it reminds me that we do the same thing with our lives. We fervently work with meticulous skill, intentionally trying to build The Good Life,¹ which typically means amassing wealth, power, and status through our jobs. Often, we find ourselves racked with anxiety, exhaustion, bitterness, and frustration because the sandcastles we have worked so hard to build are wiped away by the rising tides and cruel waves that crash on our lives.

Two thousand years ago, a poor traveling Jewish preacher from the trailer park town of Nazareth dropped some timeless wisdom on humanity about just this topic. It’s timely for you and me:

Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. It collapsed with a great crash.

When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, because he was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like their scribes. (Matt. 7:24–29)

If we will allow the Spirit of God to speak afresh to us, his life-giving words can transform us. We, too, can be astonished at Jesus’ teaching. When we build our lives on sand, we will not have the ability to overcome the rising tides and crashing waves. Jesus wants to give us a collapse-proof life.

Paul, one of Jesus’ earliest and most loyal Jewish followers, wrote these hope-intoxicated words:

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 8:37–39)

Hypernikōmen

The word conqueror in Greek is hypernikōmen. It means to keep on winning a glorious victory.² Jesus resoundingly won the battle against humanity’s great enemy, the dark powers of sin and death. Sin and death are invasive species that do not belong in God’s good creation. Messiah Jesus triumphed over and disarmed these dark powers with his death and resurrection.

But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor. 15:57

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)

You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross. (Col. 2:13–15

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)

The One who is grace upon grace fights our battles (John 1:16). His weapon of victory was his sinless life, his sacrificial atoning death on the cross, his glorious resurrection, his sending of the Spirit, and his future glorious return. King Jesus’ victorious life, which we participate in, makes us overcomers. We are strengthened by the sound of the stone being rolled away from his tomb. Jesus’ tomb is empty, and because his tomb is empty, we can be filled by the Spirit of Jesus Christ himself (Phil. 1:19; Gal. 5:22–24). The One who walked out of the tomb now wants to walk into our lives and live in and through us. We are coheirs of a kingdom that is unshakable, irreplaceable, and eternally durable. When the rising tides and crashing waves come:

We may be afflicted, but in Christ, we are not crushed.

We may be perplexed, but in Jesus, we will not lose hope.

We may be persecuted, but in Immanuel, the God who is with us, we will never be abandoned.

We may be struck down, but in Christ Jesus, the King of kings, we will never be destroyed.

What the enemy means for evil, Jesus transforms for our good.

Our lives in Christ are not built on a temporary foundation like sand. In Jesus, our lives are built on the Eternal Rock: He alone is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I will never be shaken (Ps. 62:2). We can never be shaken loose from the grip of his grace. In Christ, we are not a sandcastle-kind-of-people because Jesus is our firm foundation.

2020 Was Like an Episode of The Twilight Zone

I cannot remember the first time I watched an episode of The Twilight Zone, but I have been a fan of the TV show for years. I resonate with it because its creator, Rod Serling, took science fiction, cultural issues, suspense, horror, and psychology and created a show that was thought-provoking. The year 2020 was like an episode of The Twilight Zone, and each of us had a starring role.

In 2020, the rising tides, accompanied by hurricane-force winds, earthquakes, and a tsunami-sized wave crashed against humanity. The events of the year revealed that our lives are built on sand.

The novel coronavirus, which leads to the COVID-19 disease, descended on us. People got sick. Loved ones died. Unemployment skyrocketed. The American economy, along with the world’s economy, raced toward recession.³ Uncertainty became a blinding fog. Anxiety was around every corner. Some people were not sure where their next meal was coming from. At Transformation Church,⁴ where I serve as cofounder and lead elder pastor, we fed more than four hundred families per week who had been impacted by the recession. We started Transformation Church during a recession and found ourselves in another one.

In addition to these economic waves, many white Americans also awoke to issues of systemic racism and racial injustice that have haunted our country since her inception after several high-profile incidents, like the killing of George Floyd, shook us from our slumber. The Band-Aid that has unsuccessfully covered up the racial trauma in America was removed, exposing the unhealed wound for what it is. We clearly saw that as Americans we stand divided, unsure of what tomorrow may bring. The borders that divide Americans are growing wider by the day.

I Do What I Do Not Want to Do

As we have realized the world around us is in desperate need of redemption, our behavior reminds us that the interior part of our