Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Let's go ahead and get into the Word. If you'd stand to your feet, I'd like to honor the reading of God's Word. I want you to open with me to the Book of Psalm, Psalm 27.
[00:00:10] As always, I put the notes in the Bible app. If you'd like that, you can access those youversion and you can search our church. All the notes are there. I didn't get through all of my points in the first service. Maybe I will in this one. We'll see. But. But all of the content is there online.
[00:00:30] There's the QR code. If you would like those notes.
[00:00:35] Bless you.
[00:00:38] Psalm 27, verse 1.
[00:00:42] A Psalm of David. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?
[00:00:51] The Lord is the strength of my life.
[00:00:56] Of whom shall I be afraid when the wicked come against me to eat up my flesh, My enemies and my foes, they stumble, they fell.
[00:01:08] Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear, though war may rise against me. In this I will be confident. One thing I have desired of the Lord, that I may, that will I seek. That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire, to pray, to seek him in his temple. For in the time of trouble he will hide me in his pavilion, in the secret place of his tabernacle he shall hide me. He shall set me high upon a rock.
[00:01:40] Now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me. Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy.
[00:01:49] His tabernacle I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
[00:01:56] Hear me, O Lord, when I cry with my voice, have mercy upon me and answer me. When you said, seek my face, my heart said to you, your face, Lord, I will seek. Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger. You have been my help.
[00:02:15] Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God, of my salvation.
[00:02:21] When my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will take care of me.
[00:02:26] Teach me your way, O Lord.
[00:02:28] Lead me in a smooth path because of my enemies.
[00:02:32] Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me, and such as breathe out violence, I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
[00:02:50] Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage. He will strengthen your heart.
[00:02:56] Wait, I say, on the Lord and this Trinity Church is God's word.
[00:03:03] Believe it to be true. You may be seated.
[00:03:06] I love this text. We spent some time on Wednesday night, by the way, if you're not aware, Wednesday nights we have prayer meeting. It's open to everybody. Would love for you to join us. Seven o', clock, right next door in the annex.
[00:03:20] Another meeting that I'd make mention is our 20s, 30s gathering, which will happen this Tuesday.
[00:03:26] And it's a great, great meeting with some young married people. If you're, if you're married and looking for people to connect with, study the Bible, pray with, you ought to come. If you're engaged to be married and you're in that arena, you want to learn and connect with some people, you ought to come as well.
[00:03:43] Now, the reason I bring that up, I was having a conversation.
[00:03:48] It was the same week that the selection committee and our elders had actually voted on, you know, the whole selection process.
[00:03:57] And I had a friend in that 2030 group come to me and he was sharing about how he is stepping into a generational inheritance, how he has a business that's being trusted to him, and it is overwhelming.
[00:04:14] And I told him, I can relate to you. I feel overwhelmed. I feel in over my head. And he looked confused. He couldn't believe that I'd actually said that because he's like, but you seem so confident all the time.
[00:04:27] You seem so bold. You seem so full of vision. How is that possible?
[00:04:34] Well, this was the same week that I was praying through this very text.
[00:04:39] And I told him that in this place where I feel overwhelmed, when I. When I feel in over my head, when I feel unequipped for what God has asked me to do, these are the moments that pull me into a place where I find the strength of my life resting in the Lord.
[00:04:58] The strength of my life. Now, that may sound like a cliche, but I want you to hear my heart on this. This is not like me trying to be humble or like some false humility thing. I feel like since the time I got saved, everything that God has asked me to do was bigger than myself.
[00:05:17] Can anybody relate to that? Like, you will not find the Bible verse that says, God only asks you to do what you can handle, or God will give, never give you more than you can handle. That's not a verse in the Bible. There is one verse that says that in the realm of sin, you'll never be tempted beyond what you can handle. But he provides a way of escape. So, yes, you'll never be hit with sin that you cannot overcome. Hallelujah. But when it comes to walking out, the will and the call of God, friend, if you're in the center of God's will, guaranteed he will ask you to do things that are bigger than you, that are harder than you, that you're not smart enough for. You don't got money to pay for. You don't have relational equity. Why?
[00:06:01] Because when God accomplishes what he's called you to do, you can't take the glory.
[00:06:07] Well, I'm strong, I'm equipped. I know what I'm doing. I don't know what I'm doing.
[00:06:13] And anybody who's done great things for God under the call of God, he gets all the glory, he gets all the praise, he gets all the honor.
[00:06:23] Plus, there's a safety in that God. This whole thing was your idea to begin with.
[00:06:29] I don't know how many times I prayed that prayer, but I was afraid. I was afraid to go to Bible school.
[00:06:35] I had been just a few months, barely out of addiction overdose encounter. The Lord touched me, raised me up, but I still had in the back of my head, am I going to fail?
[00:06:45] Am I going to fall?
[00:06:47] I was afraid to get married because I watched my.
[00:06:51] I mean, my parents had a terrible divorce. My father was a horrible father. He left when I was very young.
[00:06:58] I watched him unfaithful to my mom and abandoned his children. And so I remember wrestling one day, sitting in the vehicle. I was engaged to be married to Leah and, and I'm just like God. Am I going to be that kind of father? Am I going to be as I like? Is that going to be. Am I going to end up being the same way that he was? And I was afraid to do that.
[00:07:18] But I can say, praise God. I think I've been in all right, Father. My kids both love the Lord. I think I've been a pretty good husband. I've been faithful and, and, and, and we're 20 years of bliss. Hallelujah.
[00:07:34] My dad made it too.
[00:07:36] Hallelujah. And so we're breaking generational curses. But I was afraid to step into that.
[00:07:42] I was afraid to become a father. I was afraid to step into our first church. I was a young. I took a church at 21 years old. My wife was 20. And this church had experienced a move of God, miracles breaking out. And they wanted a spirit filled pastor because they had come from a cessationist background, didn't believe in miracles, but miracles started happening. So they wanted a spirit filled pastor. So I came in and I was in over my head. I'd never pastored before, but they needed A new statement of faith. They needed a new constitution and bylaws. They needed everything rewritten. So I did that as a 21 year old. 60 people voted on us in that. 30 of them left almost immediately.
[00:08:26] Hallelujah. We're not going to repeat that, by the way, in our February vote. Come on. And so.
[00:08:33] But I was afraid.
[00:08:35] I was afraid to step into that because God was calling me to do something big. I was afraid to step out and to plant churches and do what we had done. I was afraid when pastor. That's why I had to pray about it for seven, eight, nine months before I accepted the invitation of pastor and the elders to even consider coming back here. Because I needed all a word from God.
[00:08:59] My wife definitely needed a word from God for her to leave Hawaii.
[00:09:03] Hallelujah. But the Lord spoke and I'll share some of those stories.
[00:09:08] But I truly have felt utterly unqualified, unequipped, unprepared for every door that I've ever walked through.
[00:09:20] And I don't think that I'm alone in that Again, by show of hands, how many of you can say I feel the same way that God's asked me to do bigger things, but he's shown favor on my life.
[00:09:29] Never forget.
[00:09:30] As we were stepping into full time ministry, I was praying about going on missions. I had opportunity to travel with evangelists and I, I just didn't know what I was supposed to do. And then the opportunity for this church came and I remember I was having a conversation with Steve Hill, who was my pastor and mentor when I was first coming to Jesus. He was our covering for the first decade of our ministry.
[00:09:55] And I remember sitting down with him and saying, pastor Steve, this door's opened, but I don't have a piece about it.
[00:10:03] I don't know if you've ever listened to Steve Hill preach, but he's about the scariest guy alive.
[00:10:08] And that guy could give an altar call like nobody on the planet. He was scary, but God used him in revival. And I remember I told him, I got this church that's opened up, but I don't have a piece about it.
[00:10:19] And he looks at me like I said the stupidest thing I could have ever said. He's like, peace, Peace.
[00:10:30] What are you talking about, peace?
[00:10:33] He's like, do you think a soldier standing on the edge of a battlefield, knowing that his commanding officer has said, go overthrow that army, take that field, do you think he's standing there feeling peace?
[00:10:51] If God has asked you to do it, step through the door.
[00:10:58] Somebody needs to hear that today, another word, and I have probably prayed over more people than any other word, but he declared over me, you will never miss a door that God opens to you.
[00:11:11] The only question is, do you have the guts to step through it?
[00:11:18] More often than not, if people are in the valley of decision, they know what they ought to do, they know what God's asked them to do. But it's do I have the boldness? Do I have the confidence? Do I have the strength? Most of the time, the answer is no.
[00:11:32] But that's where King David's gonna help us today.
[00:11:37] Because that boy got asked to do some things that were bigger than him.
[00:11:42] Be the king of this nation. Topple this giant. Lead this nation into greatness. Take the land that I have promised to you. And King David, he found himself in a place.
[00:11:54] Psalm 27:1.
[00:11:58] The Lord is my light and my salvation.
[00:12:03] Whom shall I fear?
[00:12:05] The Lord is the strength of my life. The Lord is the strength of my life. The Lord is the strength of my life. You want to know what my testimony is? The Lord is the strength of my life. You want to know how you're going to do bigger things than you're able to do. The Lord is the strength of my life. Come on, I want you to say it with me. The Lord is the strength of my life, of my life. Come on, one more time. By faith. The Lord is the strength of my life. That was King David's key to success right there.
[00:12:46] He's afraid, but he found the strength of his life. In fact, that's the title of my message today. Strength of my life. He had the wicked that came, he said, to eat his flesh. Hallelujah. At least you haven't had flesh eating enemies coming after you.
[00:13:03] And if you have, I want to hear your testimony.
[00:13:07] My enemies, my foes, they stumbled and fell. And an army will encamp against me. But my heart shall not fear.
[00:13:16] Here's the question of the day.
[00:13:19] There's three statements that David makes about the heart.
[00:13:24] And so my question that we're going to frame all of our points and text around today is, how's your heart?
[00:13:33] How's your heart?
[00:13:35] I want you to ask the person sitting next to you, how's your heart?
[00:13:41] Ask the other person next to you, how's your heart?
[00:13:46] If they start crying, you know that you need some help today. But they're in the right place, praise God.
[00:13:52] My wife and I look at each other, ask each other this very question pretty well every day, often multiple times. How's your heart?
[00:14:00] How Are we doing? How are you doing? How are we doing? How's your heart? We ask each other this very frequently, but David deals with three different types of hearts. We'll see how many we can cover today. But the first, he talks about the fearful heart.
[00:14:16] Whom shall I fear? He said, the Lord is the strength of my life. Whom shall I be afraid? My heart will not fear. There are moments where fear comes into our hearts.
[00:14:31] Surrounded by enemies, you're overwhelmed by life. Maybe there's wars or there's economic things, and we all have these moments of fear. But the question is, are we going to remain in that place?
[00:14:42] I need you to hear me on this. You know, sometimes we like, you know, we'll dog on guys like Thomas because he doubted.
[00:14:50] Jesus never had a problem with Thomas doubting.
[00:14:53] The problem would have been if he had stayed there.
[00:14:56] In fact, Jesus provided a solution. I know that you've got some mess in your heart right now, but let me provide a solution. You need to touch my scars. You need to see me. Here I am. He didn't rebuke him. He gave him an opportunity to get his heart right. And God's the very same with us. You come here today and you've got fear in your heart. I'm not here to condemn you or beat you down or say that you're wrong or you're off. The challenge is how are we going to move from fear into the place that God desires us to be?
[00:15:27] And that's what he's going to help us with.
[00:15:30] Some stunning statistics that I saw this last week. One out of five adults are being treated for depression in the United States.
[00:15:39] One out of five have been told that they have an anxiety disorder.
[00:15:44] One out of eight reportedly report worry or anxiety on a regular or weekly basis.
[00:15:52] Young people under 30 depression has more than doubled in the last 10 years.
[00:15:59] This is a 2024 statistic. In the last 10 years, under 30, depression has doubled.
[00:16:06] High school students, 40% report persistent sadness or hopelessness, according to a 2023 poll.
[00:16:14] This is a big deal.
[00:16:16] But David found a solution. He found something that would help him. One thing. Verse 4. That I desire one thing, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold his beauty, the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. Simply put, I'm going to go to church and I'm gonna meet God and I'm gonna pray. I'm gonna inquire, I'm gonna talk to God about. I'm gonna go to Church. I'm gonna get around the people of God. I'm gonna find some people of faith. I'm gonna go after him, I'm going to worship him and I am going to pray and talk to him.
[00:17:03] I'm not saying throw out all your medication and just come to church.
[00:17:07] But I'm saying David knew how to respond.
[00:17:10] David knew if I'm fearful, if I've got wars, if I've got enemies, if I've got accusations, I need to get around the people of God.
[00:17:19] Now, what's amazing is this same study, by the way, these statistics is not just like from, you know, a Christian Facebook poll.
[00:17:28] This came from a Harvard study and believe it or not, came from the cdc. So we know that it can be trusted.
[00:17:42] This, this was their findings. They found that those who that was a joke if you didn't know. But those who attend church weekly are 25% less likely to be depressed.
[00:17:55] They are 75. This was a study that was done over the course of 16 years. And they found that those who were persistent in their church attendance, they found depression reduced by 75% being in the house of God. There was a 70% lower anxiety for those who attended weekly worship gatherings.
[00:18:15] Harvard found 20% lower depression, anxiety, hopelessness, loneliness, and a higher life satisfaction, purpose and social lives for those who worship at least one time weekly. The biggest gap, this is amazing.
[00:18:31] 75% less likely to die by suicide amongst women who attend worship regularly. Nearly 50% less likely to die by suicide for men who attend worship regularly. In fact, you can look and see statistics. When church attendance grows across our nation, suicide rates drop drastically in the exact reverse, you'll see when church attendance begins to decline, you'll see suicide rates begin to increase.
[00:19:04] It can be traced.
[00:19:06] So I'm so clearly the statistics prove this.
[00:19:11] Now I praise God that we can see these numbers and it testifies to how powerful being connected to a body of believers is.
[00:19:21] But the thing that encourages me more than a Harvard study or a statistic that you can find in a study, the Bible, 3,000 years ago, David wrote these words. 3,000 years ago, David saying, get in the presence of God. Take time to pray if your heart is full of fear, get around the people of God. Get around people who can strengthen and encourage you.
[00:19:55] This is a straight Bible.
[00:19:58] So you came to the right place today.
[00:20:00] How's your heart?
[00:20:02] Is your heart fearful? Anxious? Depressed? Are you lonely today? You've come to the right place.
[00:20:09] You've come to the right place.
[00:20:11] One of the things you know he says I will inquire in the temple of the Lord.
[00:20:17] And here's just a simple tool for your tool belt. I want to give you five areas to pray for daily protection. Five areas that you ought to pray every day for your family, for yourself, for those that you love, that you care, for your church family.
[00:20:32] Pray, number one, for God to cover you physically.
[00:20:37] Pray for physical protection. God, heal my body, Lord, touch this area of weakness in my physical body. Protect me, Lord, as my daughter's driving to school. Protect her physically as she's on her way. Pray for protection over your physical body and those around you. Pray secondly, for God's protection over your finances.
[00:21:06] Pray for God's financial protection.
[00:21:10] This is a big deal. You may think that. Well, isn't that fleshly or carnal? No, it's not at all.
[00:21:16] In fact, the book of First John.
[00:21:21] I'm sorry, Third John, chapter one. This is how he, the Apostle John, instructs us to pray. He said, beloved, I pray. This is his prayer for you. You got an apostle praying for you, by the way. I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health. Just as your soul prospers. I'm praying for you that you would prosper. That's God's tangible blessing. That's God's provision. That's God's increase. That's his favor on your business. That's him rebuking the devourer. As you are faithful to return the tithe. God will work in the realm of your finances. I pray that you may prosper and be in good health.
[00:22:06] I can say now, having received the prayer requests that come in every week, there's cards in front of you if you ever have prayer requests. And we read every one of those and we pray over them every single Wednesday.
[00:22:18] But I can tell you that we could take about 98% of those prayer requests that come in and they would fit into one of two piles.
[00:22:27] People that are believing God, I need you to heal my body. So and so is in the hospital. So and so's got cancer. I've got this concern in my body. They would fall under the physical needs.
[00:22:37] Every other request that comes in is financial in nature. I need God. I need a job. I need a better job. I need a promotion. I need this debt lifted off of me. I've got medical bills. I don't know how to pay for my school.
[00:22:50] Almost every request that we receive, and I think this is why the Bible actually targets these two areas in one simple prayer. I pray that you may prosper and be in good health even as your soul prospers. Why?
[00:23:03] Because, listen, if the devil can't take you out in the realm of your integrity, I'm going to stay on the straight and narrow. But you know, if the enemy is able to hit you in the realm of your finances and you can't pay to do the things that God has asked you to do, he's won a partial victory. Well, I want to go on the mission trip, but I just can't afford it.
[00:23:26] I want to help the moment put her child in school, but I just can't afford it.
[00:23:32] I want to do something good, but I just can't afford it. The devil has won a partial victory hindering God's will if he can stop the flow of resource in your life.
[00:23:41] In the very same way I've watched individuals who decline into poor health because they don't take care of their bodies. They're not praying for God's blessing. Maybe, maybe they live in sickness and they can't do all that God would have them do. It's not because they're backsliding or because they don't have faith, but it's because their body simply won't keep up.
[00:24:02] My knees just hurt. I've just got this pain in my head or I have migraines that just won't go away. It keeps me from doing the things that I feel I'm supposed to do.
[00:24:12] Pray every day that God will work spirit physically and financially. But you'll notice the third part of Third John there. Be in good health, you prosper and be in a good health.
[00:24:26] Just as your soul prospers.
[00:24:29] That's dealing with your emotions, that's dealing with your heart, that's dealing with the things that you think about God.
[00:24:38] I ask you to work in my emotions. I'm fearful, I'm depressed, I'm worried, I'm anxious. Jesus, would you work in my emotions?
[00:24:50] I actually believe part of what Jesus shed his blood for. You can look through all of the things that he areas that he shed his blood. We quote the verse all the time. By his stripes we are healed. He bore stripes on his back. He was whipped for our physical healing. But you know, there's actually seven places that he bled from and every one of them purchases something.
[00:25:11] One of those areas, he had a crown that was smashed upon his brow.
[00:25:17] Literally shed blood from his brow. And all the while they were hurling insults and accusations at Jesus. Prophesy to us, who struck you?
[00:25:31] Tell us who hurt you. They mocked him. They put a reed in his hand. And they said. They said, hail, King of the Jews. They mocked him, mock worship.
[00:25:42] And I believe that part of what Jesus shed his blood from. You've been verbally assaulted, You've been abused, You've had false identity spoken over you. Jesus literally shed blood to cover those areas of emotional distress in your life.
[00:25:59] But we got to receive it.
[00:26:02] We got to receive it. We got to pray. And so pray it every day, Lord. Minister to me in my emotions.
[00:26:08] Minister to me in my emotions. Heal my heart.
[00:26:11] Fourthly, we pray for spiritual covering.
[00:26:16] Oh, this is one that I love.
[00:26:20] I don't know how many of you were with us this last Sunday night when we watched the Chosen.
[00:26:24] Wasn't that awesome?
[00:26:26] I'm not going to spoil it. It's in the Bible. So you know.
[00:26:32] You know, if that whole series is coming as a surprise to you, you just open the text. Most of it's there. But one of the scenes that was just so stirring, so moving in that episode was Jesus is in the garden. He's being arrested. Peter. He's ready to fight, man.
[00:26:50] In fact, he does. He attempts to anyway.
[00:26:53] And Jesus turns and he says, listen, don't you understand?
[00:26:57] I could say one word and twelve legions of angels would come and fight on my behalf.
[00:27:04] And in the episode, he looks up, there's an angel that's sitting on the wall, and behind the wall, legions of angels that are gathered there. I mean, it was like I was getting goosebumps as I was watching that episode.
[00:27:17] But do you know how real that is?
[00:27:19] Do you know how real that is? That the moment you begin to pray?
[00:27:25] God, I know there's forces of darkness. I know the devil roams around like a roaring lion seeking who me may devour. But by my count, the angels of God outnumber demons at least 2 to 1. And greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. And so I pray, even though forces of darkness, we may not have natural armies coming against us, but you better believe the devil is seeking to destroy you. Your life, your marriage, your health. But the good news is, the moment you begin to pray, you have unseen help that begins to move on your behalf. You don't know what kind of angels are showing up to war on your behalf. You pray. God bless them while they travel. Lord, cover my. Bless my family while they're at school, while my husband's at work, while my wife is at work. You pray these things, and all of a sudden, angels begin to move into action.
[00:28:18] You have unseen help that begins to War in ways that you don't even see or know.
[00:28:25] By the way, you'll notice that every time demons show up in scripture, they're always cowering, what are you here for, Jesus? What have you to do with us? Conversely, every time angels show up, it's like they got to settle people down. Don't be afraid.
[00:28:43] I know I'm a big flaming angel. I know I got a big sword and I'm full of. I mean, the way the Bible describes these guys, it, it is wild.
[00:28:52] You have unseen help that is beyond your imagination.
[00:28:57] It would blow your mind if you knew who was fighting on your behalf. So you pray. Pray every day for God's spiritual covering and fifthly, pray for relational covering.
[00:29:09] God, bless my relationships, Lord, protect my marriage.
[00:29:14] Bless my wife.
[00:29:16] Pour out your spirit over us, Lord. Bless my son, bless my daughter.
[00:29:22] Keep them on the straight and narrow. May they encounter you, Lord. Show yourself to my, to my kids. May they never know a day away from you, Jesus. God, bless my co workers and those that I see every day. God bless my church family. Bless the relationships that you've given me in my life. Bless our prayer partners and those who stand with us.
[00:29:44] You just ask my wife.
[00:29:48] I mean, I pray this way on my own, but every night I like to join together with her and pray this way.
[00:29:55] And she's ready for bed.
[00:29:58] But I gotta pray them all.
[00:30:00] I gotta pray. Lord, cover us physically, financially, emotionally, spiritually, relationally. Will you cover us? Will you bless us? Will you move on our behalf? Will you intervene? Will you release help in ways that I don't even see it?
[00:30:16] This is what David was finding in the house of God. I'm going to inquire of the Lord and I'm going to get around the people of God.
[00:30:26] The second heart that the Bible deals with out of our text today. Are you doing good?
[00:30:32] How's your heart?
[00:30:33] Is it getting better?
[00:30:35] All right, listen, I'm not here to beat you down. If you're fearful, anxious, worried, lonely, today's your day. You came to the right place.
[00:30:44] And the Lord's gonna minister his care to you. You might have angels show up, just, I mean, I don't know.
[00:30:51] That should not be weird to us. By the way, read the book of Acts, read the book of Mark in particular, and look at how often angels show up. I've started highlighting this stuff, blue in my Bible and there's a lot of blue in the Bible.
[00:31:07] It's pretty neat. Alright. The second heart I want to deal with today is the seeking heart.
[00:31:14] Everybody say the seeking heart, verse 8, Psalm 27.
[00:31:24] You said, David's now talking, Lord, I heard you say, seek my face.
[00:31:30] My heart has said, your face. Lord, I will seek.
[00:31:37] I love that. I don't know if you've ever been physically tired. I don't feel like praying. But it wasn't his body that was motivating him to get with God.
[00:31:45] It was his spirit. There was something in his heart that said, I've heard your invitation, Lord, and I'm accepting your invitation. I'm going to come talk to you.
[00:31:55] But the question is, as we're asking, how is our heart today? What are you seeking?
[00:32:00] Because what you're going to discover is what you feed on, what you will hunger for.
[00:32:07] What you feed on is what you will hunger for. It's amazing. This last year, I think it was around Easter, we decided to cut sugar.
[00:32:18] And, man, that has done so well for us, drop some weight. Hallelujah. And then I notice I can have, like, two bites of ice cream, and I feel. Blech.
[00:32:31] Anybody know what I'm talking about? My appetites are changing because of what I'm feeding on. What you feed on, you will hunger for.
[00:32:41] But the fact of the matter is, I mean, I. I use this. You know, sometimes people like, you're all in or you're out. No, you. You understand. You can have divided wheels.
[00:32:50] I have Fit Jacob that talks to me, and I have Fat Jacob that talks to me.
[00:32:59] Fit Jacob is like protein. Take your vitamins, you know, go work out. Get on that. I've been doing this farmer walk thing on this treadmill while you're holding weights in your hand. It's crazy, man. But then fat Jacob says, your wife just made a coffee cake, your friend sent ice cream to your front door, and I hate it.
[00:33:28] I mean, you can't deny the blessing, right?
[00:33:35] But what you feed on, you will hunger for. I'm telling you, you start. Yeah. There's something in you that's going to say, you don't need to get in prayer.
[00:33:43] You need to get in the word. You can catch up tomorrow. But something begins to happen. Your body will cry out when your appetite is starved.
[00:33:52] The fact of the matter is, though, your spirit man will not cry out if it's lacking in the place of prayer, if it's not been filled up in the place of worship, or if you've not been around the people of God who encourage you, your spirit man does not cry out the same way. It's not going to be until you're in a trial or you're getting whacked by the devil, and all of a sudden you realize, I'm running on empty.
[00:34:14] This is why you. You command your soul. What you're going to hunger for Now, I'm going to get in the word of God and I'm going to spend time in prayer, and I'm going worship the Lord Jesus and I'm going to get in the house of God around godly men and women who encourage me. I'm going to go after these things. And all of a sudden you find that you begin to hunger for it.
[00:34:34] You're going to feed on what you hunger for. Proverbs 4. 23 says, Keep your heart with all due diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.
[00:34:48] That's an interesting picture. You have your heart and out of it is springing issues.
[00:34:57] Do you have issues?
[00:34:59] Ask your neighbor. Do you have issues?
[00:35:03] You don't. Don't tell them you have issues.
[00:35:07] How's your heart? Your heart. Your heart's like a filter. You understand?
[00:35:13] Your heart's like a filter.
[00:35:15] You can. This happens at church. This might have happened to you this morning.
[00:35:19] You're here, you see somebody, they walk by you. They don't say hi.
[00:35:25] And what is in your heart will affect how you. How you. What is the veil that this interaction is coming through?
[00:35:34] Well, they must be offended at me.
[00:35:37] They're too good for me. They've got somebody more important to talk to, right? If you have insecurity or woundedness or offense in your heart, you're gonna interpret that that way. Your issues are causing this filter over your heart, right?
[00:35:55] You may have something like, oh, man, this person's on assignment. I mean, if you got good in your heart, if you think good about somebody, well, this person's busy. Well, they're about to go do something for Jesus. But that guy's going to pray for somebody right now.
[00:36:08] What are the things that come into your heart?
[00:36:12] You call somebody and they don't answer.
[00:36:15] I mean, if your heart's in a good place.
[00:36:18] My husband didn't answer the phone. He's working so hard for my family.
[00:36:24] Maybe he's out buying gifts for me right now.
[00:36:30] But if there's something else in your heart, he must be mad at me.
[00:36:34] They must be upset with me. They're probably busy talking to somebody else. What is in your heart?
[00:36:42] This is why we got to take care of our hearts, friends.
[00:36:45] We got to take care of our hearts. We got to understand the filters. And we need to know that sometimes. Sometimes what we're receiving is not actually an offense or somebody's angry with you or somebody. Sometimes, friend, you just got to look in the mirror and understand it's not their problem, it's my problem.
[00:37:06] How's your heart?
[00:37:10] Jesus gave a pretty interesting picture and this is a solution.
[00:37:16] David, he's presenting us with this idea. I've heard you, Lord, invite me to come into your presence and I'm going to come.
[00:37:25] He said earlier, I want to behold the beauty of the Lord. And he says, I want to wait on the Lord. These are all very similar ideas. But I'm going to get in the presence of God and I'm going to look to him and I'm going to be encouraged by him. Friend, do you know how life transformative it is just to behold the beauty of the Lord Jesus?
[00:37:49] He makes a statement that's pretty interesting. I'm going to do this in a different order. Randy, verse 11 Luke 11:34, he presents a principle.
[00:37:59] He says, the light of the body is the eye.
[00:38:04] Therefore, when thine eye is single, your whole body is full of light.
[00:38:12] But if your eye is evil, your body is full of darkness.
[00:38:19] This is a big statement. Jesus is saying. What you look at doesn't just like, you know, I'm just thinking about it for a second. No, it gets in you.
[00:38:31] If you're beholding the light of the world, light gets in you.
[00:38:37] If you're setting your eyes on filth, on trash, if you're hearing garbage, you're looking on unclean things. Friends, it's not just something like, oh, nobody knows about it. It's not going to affect me. No, that's darkness in you.
[00:38:51] In fact, Jesus, he said, your eye. This is the reason I like the King James in this particular text.
[00:38:57] He says, if your eye is single, that's the Greek word haplus. Everybody say haplus.
[00:39:05] You're speaking Greek, you sound good.
[00:39:08] It means a particle of union.
[00:39:11] It means to be folded together, that is to be single, to be one. I like that idea, to be folded together.
[00:39:26] So Jesus said, he tells his disciples, I am the light of the world.
[00:39:35] These boys spend the season looking upon Jesus, the light of the world. But it's not just that they're spending time and hearing his teaching. Something is transforming on the inside of them. All of a sudden, the very divine nature that Jesus is walking in begins flowing out of these boys. So they go.
[00:39:58] And all of a sudden it's not just Jesus casting out demons, Jesus healing the sick, Jesus preaching good news, Jesus making disciples. All of A sudden, God is using them to do the very same things. Healing happened when I prayed, the demon came out. When I spoke, people responded when I shared good news. How does that happen?
[00:40:19] They're looking upon the light of the world.
[00:40:23] And as their eye is single, they are being enfolded into the very divine nature of Jesus Christ. And what's in him is coming into them.
[00:40:36] This is where Jesus can later turn and say, you are the light of the world. You are a city set on a hill. You cannot be hidden.
[00:40:48] That's a big deal.
[00:40:50] So the question is, what is your heart seeking?
[00:40:53] What are you setting your eyes upon? What have you inclined your heart to hear? If we get in the house of God, you get in worship and you get in prayer. You get in the word of God and these are the things I'm telling you. You don't see it in the natural, but your body is being filled with the light and the nature of God. And I'm telling you, friend, light and darkness cannot inhabit the same space. You want to know people? People think they're gonna overcome sin, hating sin. No, you're not. You don't know how you can get darkness out of your life. Get filled with light.
[00:41:28] Set your eyes on his beauty. You're not going to have space for all this other mess.
[00:41:33] You're not going to quickly go from praying and asking God's blessing over your enemies and then cursing them in the same mouth.
[00:41:44] It's really hard to spend time in prayer and then immediately go and spend time in sin.
[00:41:59] How's your heart? Ask your neighbor, how's your heart?
[00:42:08] So he says, I will come, I will inquire in the temple. I want to give you a couple ways that we can pray.
[00:42:14] I see my pianist has come and so that means that it's time for me to stop.
[00:42:19] But can I give you a couple tools for prayer? Angels will help you. Very simply, we can pray. First of all, personal prayer.
[00:42:28] Jesus teaches on this. In Matthew 6, he talks about going into the secret place, go into the closet, pray in secret. My Father, who hears you in secret, will reward you openly.
[00:42:38] You need to take time personally in prayer every single day.
[00:42:42] Now, personally, you, you may find it hard to block out. I'd love to pray two hours a day. You may not find space for that, but I like what Smith Wigglesworth said. He said, I rarely pray more than 30 minutes, but I never go more than an.
[00:42:59] I don't often spend more than a half an hour in prayer at one time. This is a dead raiser by the way, you don't know Wigglesworth? Look him up. This guy, I think seven people raised from the dead. Mighty evangelists saw wild miracles. I don't spend more than a half hour of prayer at one time, but I never go more than an hour without praying.
[00:43:20] He lived in this constant abide. I'm just gonna talk with Jesus.
[00:43:24] Holy Spirit, where are we going? What are we doing? I'm gonna be like Jesus, Father, I'm not gonna do anything unless you tell me. Not gonna say anything unless I hear you. Just walking in this place of union.
[00:43:38] Walking in this place. I'm just going to talk with the Lord. I'm going to bring this to prayer.
[00:43:43] I'll tell you, I don't. There's not a time. I'm not driving in my car.
[00:43:48] I'm just going for a walk.
[00:43:49] Walking from here to there. Then I'm not just talking with Jesus.
[00:43:54] Talk to the Lord.
[00:43:56] Personal prayer, secondly is corporate prayer.
[00:44:00] Do you know that? Matthew 6, the Lord's Prayer.
[00:44:05] I think it's corporate in nature.
[00:44:07] Our Father, give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses. Lead us not into temptation. The whole application is corporate. These are people who will pray with you, friend.
[00:44:24] I'll tell you, you need some people that are on your side in the place of prayer.
[00:44:32] You need some people.
[00:44:33] And I'm not talking about the generic. I'm praying for you, brother. And then they never do.
[00:44:39] I don't know how many times you've heard that.
[00:44:43] I'm talking about there's people that come to you and they look you in the eyes and they say, I'm praying for you. And you know they mean it.
[00:44:51] You have people like that in your life.
[00:44:54] If you don't, friend, just show up on a Wednesday, show up here on Sunday. You find the people that are on fire for God.
[00:45:01] You say, will you teach me how to pray? Would you mind to pray for me? And all of a sudden you begin to build a relationship with people who will stand with you in the times that you need it. People that you can just send a message, Hey, I need prayer right now. Hey, I need some extra covering because I don't have a lot that I can say in this moment.
[00:45:19] It's a precious thing.
[00:45:22] Third, there's groaning prayer.
[00:45:25] Romans 8:26 talks about groaning prayer.
[00:45:30] These are prayers that are so deep you didn't even have words for them. May come out praying in tongues. But I'm just telling you, when you get into this place, the technical term would be travail. When you get into this place where you're birthing something in the spirit, something so weighty, something so agonizing, something so. So big, sometimes all you can get out is, oh, have you ever prayed like that?
[00:45:59] You ever had prayers? Like, some of you didn't even know you was praying. You just did that in the car because you was frustrated. You're, ah, that's a good prayer right there.
[00:46:19] Fourthly is tearful prayer.
[00:46:22] Tearful prayer.
[00:46:24] Psalm 39, verse 12. I like this verse. This spoke to me big time in prayer and fasting this last year. Lord, listen to my tender cries Read, read, listen to my tender cries Read my every tear like liquid words that plead for your help. I feel alone at times, like a stranger to you passing through this life just like those before me. Read my every tear like liquid words that plead for help.
[00:46:56] Mama, did you know that when you're. When you're kneeled down and you don't even have words, but you just crying over your child, even if you don't have words, God's reading those tears.
[00:47:12] Father, do you know that when you're praying, you feel overwhelmed? Can I provide for my family?
[00:47:18] What am I gonna do?
[00:47:20] And all you can do is groan or shed a tear.
[00:47:25] You know that God sees those tears. They're like liquid prayers that are coming before the very throne of God.
[00:47:32] Some of you have been praying. You don't even know it.
[00:47:35] He's reading your prayers.
[00:47:37] He's reading your tears.
[00:47:40] This last Wednesday night, had one of our young adults come, all asked him to pray for family revival.
[00:47:48] I hand him the microphone, and I don't think he said, dear Jesus.
[00:47:55] And all of a sudden, the Spirit of God hits him.
[00:47:58] He's on his knees and he's weeping and he's groaning.
[00:48:04] And I knew. I knew what the Lord was doing. This isn't one of those moments. Whatever you did, brother, God will forgive you. It wasn't that there was a depth in prayer that he was tapping into that was shaking the heavens. It's making a difference.
[00:48:20] It's a powerful place of prayer. You ever see somebody move into that? Don't go interrupt them. Let them birth what God is doing?
[00:48:29] I believe I was watching that prayer moment. I think God did more in that in two minutes than we probably accomplished in the whole prayer meeting combined.
[00:48:38] Because somebody got serious.
[00:48:41] Somebody released a groan, somebody shed a tear, and God reads it.
[00:48:49] There's prayer in the Spirit. You don't know how to pray. Let the Spirit pray through you. 1st Corinthians 14:5 Ephesians 6, 18 Jude 1, 20.
[00:49:00] Pray with the spirit, last idea.
[00:49:08] And then we're going to worship. We're going to pray.
[00:49:11] Didn't share this in the first service, but even as I was hearing Pastor Rod do the offering, he's talking about how the offering.
[00:49:19] It's an issue of the heart.
[00:49:22] And I agree.
[00:49:24] One of the things David said, when I come into the house of God, verse six, he says, I will offer sacrifices of joy in the tabernacle. I will sing. I will sing praises to the Lord.
[00:49:38] Now, anybody in this culture would have understood what he's talking about.
[00:49:42] But offering sacrifices of joy was a very specific type of offering. It's listed in numbers 1010. In the day of gladness, the appointed feast, the beginning of months, blow the trumpet over your offerings, over your sacrifices, over your peace offerings. They're a memorial for you before God.
[00:50:07] David saying, when I come into the house of God, I'm gonna bring him an offering, and I'm gonna shout and I'm gonna trumpet and I'm gonna praise God as I bring this offering to the Lord. Lord.
[00:50:20] It's a big deal. This is why, when we say, it's time to receive the Lord's tithe and your offering, it's absolutely appropriate to celebrate and thank God and express joy for how good he is and all that he's doing, he may say, well, Pastor Jesus said, don't sound the trumpet when you give. Let that be and say, absolutely he did.
[00:50:41] The focus is not whether you're blowing a trumpet or celebrating.
[00:50:45] It's who are you trying to impress?
[00:50:47] Where's your heart?
[00:50:49] If I'm doing this to impress somebody else, I've received all my reward.
[00:50:55] But if I come before God and I bring an offering and say, lord, this is precious to me. I worked for this, but I'm bringing this as an expression of my love.
[00:51:08] And I praise you, God, for you are good.
[00:51:13] Comes up as a memorial before God.
[00:51:16] There's a moment In Acts, chapter 10, Cornelius, there were two things that grabbed God's attention over this man and his household. It was his prayer and it was his giving.
[00:51:28] You want to grab the attention of God? Get with him in prayer and bring to him an offering.
[00:51:34] We're not receiving an offering right now, but it'll help you. I want you to stand.
