" Prayer Rebuild" | Pastor Debleaire Snell

that wonderful for that wonderful message in song and I think there's somebody that just need to be reminded you probably have done all that you can do but sometimes just need to be reminded after you've done all that you can you just got to stand and let God do the rest amen amen amen and so tonight we are very very excited to begin a new teaching series and this teaching series is simply entitled rebuild rebuild and we're gonna get ready for that just second does it sound all right all right amen all right so tonight we're gonna get into our teaching series it's called rebuild and what we're gonna be looking at specifically is how to rebuild a languishing spiritual life anybody in this room ever just wind up going through a spiritual slump anybody ever been a spiritual drought anybody ever just feel like spiritually you're just going through the motions but you're not really connected you're not really alive and so what we want to spend the next 4 or 5 weeks doing is just talking about how to rebuild on how to work through that particular season in your life and so what I'm gonna do real quick is I'm gonna have us look at a scripture as I introduce kind of the concept in 1st Peter chapter 2 in verse 5 and if you don't mind let's just read this together as a group you also like alright let's start it together our rhythm is not on tonight we are unequally yoked so let's let's start together again first Peter 2:5 you also like living stones are being built into a spiritual house so that when you look at the New Testament there are a number of different metaphors for your spiritual existence we are the temples of the Holy Ghost but one of the things that Peter says is that you are spiritual stones and that you're being built into what kind of house a spiritual house and see the reason we wanted to spend some time talking about this is that physically our houses look like this but spiritually our houses look like that I mean real true spiritually some of us in the outhouse spiritually we in the projects spiritually some of our houses are just incomplete meaning like we have been built on a firm foundation but we never really allowed God to complete our spiritual house and so what we want to do over the next four to five weeks is we want to go through a spiritual rebuild and tonight I want to talk about having a prayer rebuild rebuilding our prayer life so if you don't mind let's just talk to the wall for just a moment father I just prayed that in this little while that you would say much would you just speak to us directly from your word we pray in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ let God's people say together amen amen amen so again tonight what we're talking about specifically is rebuilding your prayer life and so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna work through three objectives first I want to talk about the essentiality of Prayer why we've got to treat it as an imperative thing then what I want to talk about is the relational benefits of having a strong prayer life and then I want to give you some specific tools for those of us who may be new to prayer all those who are trying to rebuild your prayer life some specific elements of rebuilding of reestablishing your prayer life but again one of the things I want to begin with doing and I just want to share with you three statements from some devotional reading I've had over the last couple of weeks I want to begin just talking about the essentiality of Prayer and why prayer is so essential like why you can't go without it why if you don't do anything else and of course of the day you gotta find some time to get on your knees you you've got to create some space to have connection with God and so the first reason prayer is essential is that prayer arms you for spiritual warfare like this this this this statement man from the spirit Frost man made me rejoice man look at look at what Ellen White she says she says Satan trembles at the sound of prayer way all that tonight church he trembles at the sound of prayer there is a mighty power in prayer our great adversary is constantly seeking to develop to keep seeking to keep the troubled soul away from God and appeal to heaven by the humblest Saint is more dreaded by Satan than the decrees of cabinets or the mandates of kings in other words I need you to know that the devil don't you know he ain't afraid of nothing else in your life the only thing he fears about you is when you go into the secret place in other words you don't get scared when you decide to come to church he don't get scared when you decide to put on your favorite gospel song he don't get scared when you decide to lift your hands and praise like we've falsely believed the narrative that the devil gets confused by pray phrase confuses the enemy the devil don't get discombobulated because you start clapping your hands and shouting hallelujah but I need you to know that when you begin to call on the name of God like like the devil literally has like post-traumatic stress when you start saying our Father which art in heaven like you start having flashbacks he started tripping because he knows that when you get connected with God imprint when you come out of your secret place that there is something different on you that he cannot contend with hey y'all hear me tonight Saints so y'all remember there in Acts chapter 16 before Paul and Silas were thrown into prison and they had that midnight prayer and praise experience you realize what preceded it that there was this little damsel who had the ability to tell the future and what would happen is when you read that sixteen is whenever they would go into the temple during the hour of prayer she would begin shouting and declaring that these are the men of God now I need you to take note of something is that she didn't start shouting when they went to the grocery store she didn't start making a bunch of noise when they went to the mall she didn't start shouting when they went to work she didn't start shouting until they went into the temple during prayer time and the reason she thought shouting is that when they close their eyes she wanted to disrupt their meditation she wanted to break up their prayer requests be the reason they made so much noise during prayer is that whenever the Apostles came out of that upper room that there was an anointing on them that the devil could not handle and I need you to know that that the reason prayer is so powerful is that that's what's so opposed in your life do you realize that the devil don't attack you when you trying to get on Facebook you don't attack you when you tweet you don't act you when you're watching the game he don't have nothing coming for you when you going to work he never sending nothing at you on your way to the club y'all not being real with me tonight there is no satanic opposition until you get ready to get on your knees I'll call on the name of the Lord and wherever you are resisting the most that's where the power source is in your life are y'all hear me tonight Saints let's not need us to understand that when you call on the name of the Lord in prayer that there is power how many of us believe that tonight the second thing I want to some understand about prayer is that prayer still changes things though I have a witness tonight listen man bye my wife had my kids memorize this devotional statement and I wanted to share this with y'all tonight I'll stay with me on this I need y'all to get this that prayer is the answer to what every night I need y'all to get this sense this is prayer is not the answer to most problems it is not the answer to many problems it is the answer to everything you are dealing with tonight I need you to not treat prayer like an accessory don't treat prayer like something you do after the fact it is the answer to every problem it puts us in tune with divine wisdom which knows how to adjust everything perfectly so often say with me somebody we do not pray in certain situations because from our standpoint the outlook is hopeless but get this there is nothing impossible for God are you hearing me tonight nothing it's so entangled that it cannot be made right by the loving Spirit of God no mistake is so bad that it cannot be remedied with God's help no human relation is so strained that God cannot bring about reconciliation and understanding to all that are concerned no habit is so deep-rooted that it cannot be overcome y'all with me tonight Saints I need you to know whether you smoke whether you drink you're struggling food pornography I need you to know that when you pray that God can't lose you from the stronghold I need you to know no one is so ill that they cannot be healed no mind is so dull that it cannot be made brilliant let me just talk to somebody that got some low SAT scores that that maybe you aren't the brightest bulb but if you connect with God God can quicken your faculties and allow you to do more than you can do by yourself now y'all hear me tonight if there is anything that is causing us to worry or be anxious let us stop rehearsing the difficulty and trust the healing life love and power of God somebody oughta shout Amen tonight I need us to understand that there is nothing too hard for God and the thing I need you to walk away with understanding is that prayer is the answer it is not an accessory there's not something you do after the fact if your kids are acting simple prayer is the answer if there is sickness in your body prayer is the answer if your Baker count is low prayer is the answer as she testified if your job is taking away prayer is the answer if there's depression in your spirit I'm not mad if you see a counselor but you can't see a counselor and stop frame you gotta pray before you go in and pray when you come out that prayer is the answer for every difficulty we face in life and my prayer is that when we leave this place tonight that we will stop rehearsing the difficulty stop looking for somebody to tell what's wrong and start telling it to Jesus who can make it right are y'all hear me tonight Saints and the third thing I want to say real quick is that prayer equals life are y'all hear me tonight Saint listen to what Ellen White says and gospel workers 254 prayer is the one breath of the soul it is the secret of spiritual power no other means of grace can be substituted and the help of the soul be preserved prayer brings the heart into immediate contact with the wellspring of life and strengthens the sinew of muscle and religious experience she says if you neglect the exercise of prayer or engraved prayer imprint spasmodically now and then as it seems convenient you will lose your whole on God now again as we talk about prayer being essential I've need you to see how she frames it she frames it as the breath of the soul now the reason she frames it as breath is because breath is something you can't do without prêt breath is something you can't go very long without doing so that if I research things right that you can go maybe a few days without drinking but she doesn't say it's the drink of the soul because you can go a few days without drinking she doesn't say it's the food for the soul because you can go almost a month without eating but she says it's the breath of the soul because just about every 35 seconds if not less you need to be inhaling or exhaling and I guess what I'm saying is you got to get to the place where you realize you need God like you need your next breath of air are you hearing me tonight sense and see your prayer life will never be rebuilt it'll never go to the next level if we're treating it as optional and inconsequential that's something I can do when I feel like it or something I get around to I've got to make sure that my first conversation of the day is Jesus a my my time is use you tonight is really their home before you get online before you do anything else or after you've done anything let your last conversation of the day be with Jesus are you hearing me nice answer so I want to turn the corner real quick because one of the things that's going to help you build your prayer life is when you come to this conclusion is that prayer is to be relational not transactional okay let me see if y'all on this side prayer the purpose of prayer is relational it's not transactional I see as long as your prayer life is transactional it'll always be bipolar in other words if it's transactional as long as the transactions are going my way and I'm getting what I want then I'm all about the secret place but if I'm ever in his face will I have to wait for the transaction or it doesn't transact just the way I want it then I lose my hold on God see the problem is we're treating prayer like a debit card in other words we consulted as long as I'm able to get something from it right away and buddy I need us to understand kind of the purpose of it saying this thing about prayer is that any relationship that bypasses friendship and go straight to benefits is temporary okay I need y'all to hear me on this any relationship where I bypassed friendship intimacy and it's all about the benefit that relationship is gonna be temporary that's him this is kind of where we are with God see this is why we're so up and down with God because we're not really in a friendship with God we're just going straight for the benefits amen jump jump just like you when you're dating him if they want to go straight to the benefits Oh y'all y'all y'all go egg brand-new straight to the benefits without relationship then you know that joint is on borrowed time are y'all hear me Saints and the same thing is like some of us don't have a relationship with God we just friends with benefits and as long as he's Givens just something then we're in connection with him but see the thing I need us to turn the corner on is understanding the reward of Prayer see the thing is a lot of us pray so God will reward us with some thing but the reward of prayer is not what I get the reward of prayer is intimacy with him that's why when he reveals himself to Abraham in Genesis 13 this word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision and says do not be afraid Abram for I am your shield and your very great reward in other words the reward of Fred is not a new house it's not a new car it's not more money it's not a prettier spouse it's not more material things the reward of prayer is that I get to connect intimately let me just say this we get to connect intimately with the God of the universe now y'all would be impressed if I told you I had access to Barack Obama y'all would be impressed if I told you I knew Beyonce y'all would be impressed if I told you I could just call up jay-z whenever I wanted to but I need you to know I can one-up you a thousand times over I can call on the name of the god of the universe and he never puts me on hold he doesn't send me to voicemail he picks up every time and I've got a relationship with him he answers are y'all hear me tonight Saints and the reward of Prayer beloved is I experience friendship with my maker are y'all here midnight Saints and so I want to talk real quick about some of the relational benefits of Prayer because see this is where the blessing is see one of the things that happens when you pray is it deepens your friendship with God it's crazy how the Bible says here when it talks about Moses and his Exodus 33 the Bible says that the Lord would speak to Moses face to face as a man would speak to his friend and it's crazy we get impressed by this because he we think there's some how Moses had something that we did you realize that Moses were no better than none of us in this room you by Moses he did not eclipse or reach certain certain level of spirituality that is just beyond our reach I need you to know that we still have that kind of access to God like do you realize you're by Moses meant he was not all good by Moses killed somebody I mean when God would tell him to speak to the rock your emotions get so he just painted oh y'all hear what I'm saying in other words he was not a perfect person now the problem is some of us gonna read that text and say well Moses had an advantage and that he was able to see God face to face you understand that he didn't get that kind of access from the beginning he got that kind of access that was the culmination of a relationship that grew when he could not see God face to face are you what I'm saying and let me just say something loved it that if you can't love or connect with God without seeing him face to face you will never see him face to face all right no no no you you have to learn how to love him before you can see him because that's the only way it's going to last once you're able to see him and I learned this up close and personal that like you know Gianna and I'm we first started dating we dated two years before we got married but only a month of that time was actually spent with us being in the same city after I love Andrews I was living in Mississippi pastoring away from her and it's crazy because like all of our relationship was by phone and by text and calling at the nine o'clock from the ministry do I have a witness in this room and it is crazy I fell in love with her by phone y'all didn't get that I fell in love with her through conversation I decided to commit myself through dialogue not through face-to-face contact but because I fell in love when I couldn't see her face it put me over the top once she moved in y'all didn't hear me on this thing and what I'm saying to you tonight beloved is that you've got to learn to connect with God before you can see his face so that you can remain in love once you see his face does that make sense but the goal of it beloved is and the reason we're struggling is that some of us don't have friendship with God like our relationship is transactional or some of us have like this fear-based relationship where it's based upon this wide gap of a God who is up high and we're down here but do you realize that man when God relates to us he relates to us not just as subjects or as ruler in a rule based relationship he calls her sons and daughters you know he searched his disciples he referred to he says you all are my friends isn't that amazing that he calls us friends that we can experience friendship with God but that friendship cannot just be based upon it I ask and he gives that friendship has to be based upon an intimate relationship that is built one day at a time through interaction and discourse and dialogue that is two-sided where not only do talk to God but I said still where God can also talk to me if that makes sense um here you say man second thing I want to say about prayer in terms of the relational benefit is that prayer provides a safe place for you to be yourself I don't know if you got what I just said prayer creates a safe space where you can be yourself do you realize that it's crazy you can't really be yourself with nobody but Jesus like you're really yourself at work like you are who you want them to see you're really yourself at church as real as you say you are no you let the pastor see who you want the pastor to see like you not you're not always completely yourself around yours you don't tell your spouse everything you're thinking like there are certain things that you don't even want to say out loud come on and tell the truth there are certain things you don't want to admit that you're fake there are certain things that you don't want to tell to everybody but one of the beauties of the woman's testimony by the well she says come see a man who told me everything I ever did that's crazy because like man I don't you know that don't really appeal to me [Applause] everything I ever did right but becae what it shows is the relatability and the acceptance of Jesus Christ the reason I can be real and myself with Jesus is that he knows not just who I'm elect you see right now but he knows me when ain't nobody else around he knows what's running through my men when I'm as mad as a snake he knows who I am at my core and the beauty of it is he accepts me anyhow are you v6 I see the beautiful thing about prayer is that prayer your pride chamber is the only place where your information can never be hacked discovered or repeated amen listen come understand I don't care who your best friend is what not you can tell them anything they gonna tell it one day people will die you know I'm saying and then they'll say your pastor I never told anybody but when he was living but somebody is going they don't tell that secret somebody gonna tell us if somebody's gonna hack it somebody's gonna discover it but the good news is that when I tell it to Jesus it's safe with him and guess what ain't got to pretend with him ain't gotta perpetrate with Jesus you realize that you can tell Jesus whatever is on your mind you can tell him whatever you are afraid of you can tell them whatever you struggle with you can tell them you can even tell them what you would not tell anybody else in the world and the good news is that he don't eat your prayer closet it is a judgment-free zone do you realize that there that makes me some condemnation in church but there a nun in the secret place cuz he says in Romans 12 there now therefore there is no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus are y'all hear what I'm saying you can find safety when you call on the name of the Lord third thing that prayer does is allows you to become unburdened first Peter chapter 5 and verse 7 says I can Cass all my cares on him because he cares for you so I see that sees one of the things that I think we're missing out on is that CC and this is where I want you to see God his friend is that sometimes when you just overwhelmed and you're just full and you're just just overflowing and just man your heart is just just kind of raw and your motions wrong and sometimes may you see your boy your homegirl or your best friend and what you do is you you're almost man you just you just kind of did you just give them all that energy in your part and what happens is you feel just a little bit better because you were able to just kind of be unburdened by talking to a friend then that's okay and we need friends and we have need for human companionship that's okay but the problem is that after I give my friend all my burdens you realize they were not designed to carry them and so if you give them too much burden after a while they gonna be picking up the phone they're gonna be trying to avoid you because they can't can't do all that are you here because they were not DISA you are you realize most of us got so much on our own plates that I can't let you put no more on my plate are y'all hear what I'm saying so what I'm saying to us beloved is that what you're doing is you're putting burdens on those who are not designed to handle it and you're putting burden is on those who can't do nothing about it but the good news is that when I cast my cares on Jesus he can handle the weight of whatever I put upon him and do you realize that the same sense of relief the same sense of freedom the same sense of having the weight lifted that you get by talking to your best friend you can get that times 10 by going into your prayer closet giving it to Jesus and then I get the bonus of knowing that God after I give it to him he's gonna turn it around he's gonna make it better he's gonna bring deliverance into my life are you hearing me like saying listen man you can tell your best friend all about your financial problems and then they're gonna give you a look somewhere along the line like don't ask me come on now they gonna say this is gonna look like well yeah and they're just gonna go try to free up that joint they're gonna be like yeah man but you know I'm struggling too and I say well then you know don't even ask but Jesus say it's all that come unto me hallelujah I will in no wise cast them out come on say Amen fourth thing is that in your prayer closet your prayer closet that's where you get familiar with its voice it is in that secret place and you've heard me talk about this repeatedly like see the problem is we're trying to do spirituality on the go like there's just certain things you got it you certain things you can't get in the drive-thru there's times where you just got to sit down at the table and eat and as you talk with God and you take time to be still I need you to know Saints that the still small voice of the Holy Spirit will begin talking to you in ways that are intelligent sin problem is we always want to discern God in a feeling in an emotion it's always gonna be flashing lights a deep voice smoke rising from the earth now it's hidden earthquake hearing fired he's in the still some are y'all hearing what I'm saying but and see what what happen is that if you spend enough time in the secret place where he's talking what will happen is you'll develop a familiarity with his voice so that when life gets overwhelming and everything is pulling at you at the same time and this is saying go here and that person saying go there and you got counted your internal conflict you'll be able to be able to pick the voice of God in the midst of the chorus and say ah that's him and the way I know it's him in the mists of confusion is because I got familiar with him when I was still in peace are you hearing what I'm saying it's just kind of I think all the parents in this room will identify with this it's kind of like you know like you you hear your kids like talk and cry so much that even when that you go pick them up from school or they're in a crowd and they start calling your name you realize you can pick out your kid's voice I'm the miss of a thousand voices because you've gotten so familiar with it in a quiet place and what I'm saying to the body of Christ tonight is that you that some of us man we've been in this thing too long to not know when God is talking to us it's just been too long you ought to be able to know that's him and I need you to know that as you rebuild you start spending time in that secret place you start dedicating yourself to that space you will be able to hear God saying go left go right be still you will hear God in very pronounced ways say I know it looks good but that's not my plan for you I know the pay is good but I want you over here I know they find but I got something better you'll be able to hear his voice in a very pronounced way you'll be able to hear the voice of God like when your world is in complete chaos you'll hear the voice of the Spirit saying I got you you hear God saying I'm gonna see you through you hear God saying don't worry you'll hear God saying stop looking at it and start looking but you gotta get familiar with his voice because God is not any motion he's not a feeling he is the person of the Holy Spirit who speaks to us all y'all hear me tonight st. so real quick I'm gonna just say to those and again I'm repeating this for some who've been with us for a while those who are trying to reconstruct your prayer life just five quick tools number one if you want to rebuild your prayer life some of us was just kind of wondering how do I fill this face what do I do how do I stay connected with God you want to rebuild your first your prayer life this is the first thing I do when I follow my face in the morning is I begin with Thanksgiving I just begin with Thanksgiving and it's crazy because like no matter how bad and it's funny because like me I'm praying to God my desire is intimacy but sometimes man just through the act of Thanksgiving it just reminds me somehow someway everything is gonna be alright because sometimes man just through the act of Thanksgiving what it literally does is it shifts your perspective like have you ever just had one of those days where it just felt like everything was wrong in your life okay I know y'all are Christian I know y'all love the Lord but every now and then you have some days where it feels like everybody's against you ain't nothing going right like I'm under the curse like man ain't nothin gonna break for me but when you just begin to just kind of say thank you and you begin to recount the mercies of God and you begin to number the blessings of God and you begin to look at all that he is doing like even sometimes in the midst of thanking him for what you have it just kind of begins to reinforce the fact that God is able to do what you stand in need of are you hearing me tonight Saints so I want it - the body of Christ and even for those I'm gonna say this who don't even have maybe the mental discipline to pray with your eyes closed it's some of us are kind of in the habit of doing maybe sometimes I challenge you to just start writing down Thanksgiving on paper just start writing down the list of blessings start writing down what you're grateful for listen as baddies all day worth today I dare you to start writing down a list of your blessings and I need you to know juxtapose it with your curses your blessings still outnumber your curses and your blessings will remind you that God is still on the throne are y'all hearing me the night Saints second thing you want to do as you move into your prayer life is that you got to be a part of your prayer life is confession I'll tell you I'm the pastor I'm walking with God I'm trying to be full of the spirit but I still have to confess something every day so which means if I have to do it guess what you have to do it you first time why not if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness Oh see that some things y'all have allowed yourself to get too used to Louis all I got to do is confess ain't gotta pay no money Kelsey ain't gotta carry no lamb to the altar all I gotta do is confess Jesus Christ the righteous but there are certain things that like we don't know what to shout about man that all you got to do is just say Lord I'm sorry and in this sense a because I'm sick but because he's faithful and he's just he'll forgive you and cleanse you clean slate a new beginning and I start the new day did nothing wrong the day before but even when you confess I want to say this you got to be specific in your confession Leviticus 5 verse 5 and it shall be when he is guilty in any of these matters that he shall confess that he has said what in that thing all right so the same way praise is specific guess what confession either be specific as well come on say man third thing then we want to intercede we're gonna pray for other people change chapter 5 verse 16 says confess your trespasses to one another pray for one another that you may be healed the effective fervent prayers of a righteous man avails much so what am i praying for one of the things that i'm doing is like like job you know you start today you prayed for those who are close to you like the you know when things that joke there is when his kids when they was going and partying getting that your bar job was making sacrifices praying for them even when they weren't praying for themselves you want to pray for those who are sick amongst us and in the body of Christ pray for those who are bereaved pray for those who are helpless you know no you're gonna really feel this pray for your enemies it's in the Bible Matthew 5:44 dedicate some time to praying for your enemies pray for the leadership of this country I know you don't want to say Amen on this tray for the leadership of your cut-rate for the leadership of your church pray for your pastor amen I need your prayers so there are a number of things and individuals that we ought to be praying for an interceding because one of the things you don't want to do is you don't want your prayer again there just be a debit card I intercede for other people then guess what we can make our personal request knowing the god amen you have not because you ask but it says and it shall be given see and it shall be fun see their time so people say well you know pastor you know God's just trying to grab your place well you know I just pray for other people don't ask nothing for myself I'd be like mm ain't there yet I'm gonna pray for you then I'm gonna turn it right back around pray for my house my kids my money my but you can make your personal request known to God and see the thing about it is is what happens is as your prayer intensity goes up your anxiety goes down be anxious for nothing do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and petition with Thanksgiving present your requests unto God and the what did y'all catch the Saints and the peace I see the reason I love this is because even before the prayer is answered the peace is given on demand no no I can get it the peace is not something he's alright maybe I phrase it wrong the peace is not just like okay I'm praying so he gives me peace peace is not dismiss peace is simply a byproduct of being in the presence so that whenever I'm where he is I can't be tripping at the same time you give us it's just a byproduct of being where he is and the peace of God watch this that passes all understanding this the kind of peace where when you going up against it all you gotta joy you gotta tranquility you gotta steadiness that's making your co-workers and your family and your friends that don't know God just be like what you smoking like who's your supplier let me get some of that because this thing there are prayer warriors and then their prayer warriors are you hear what I'm saying some of us like we praying and we worrying about it that's cuz you just praying with yourself but if I'm praying to him and I'm in his presence youyou can't be tripping and guess what if that peace begins to disintegrate that's just a call to go back into the secret place the peace ain't permanent you got to stay connected are you doing the same moving here quickly alright and then you know there are times sometimes where you just got it you got a vent to God just gotta tell them what you feel and guess what God is big enough to handle whatever you can dish out you can tell him I'm goddamn mad right now you can tell you can say this so he can handle it you can say I'm frustrated you can say god I'm on the verge of going back the way I came you can say Lord man Laura you can say no I just don't know where you're at right now I don't know what you're up to right now you realize you can tell you can cast all your cares upon him now I am of just old school enough to say that even when I vent I do it carefully he is still God amen I don't just come in a kind of way right but but I can be honest because he is my god he is Almighty but here's my friend and see the thing I want you to understand the reason you can vent is because everything that concerns you concerns him there is no worry or stress you have that is insignificant to God you realize if you lose your keys you can pray about it and God will point you right up under the cushion on your couch and show you where the keys are he will like when the gas tank is down the end you stressed about making it time this gas tank I've been there too many times every lady and man we're not doing is ready to run out God will just push that listen listen I was running out of gas coming over that hill on Plummer road coming down the Matteson like that joint ran out of gas and God gave me just enough momentum only here to go right across Jo 53 and pull right on into that shale facing God God Mooji and then last thing I'm done is uh it's stillness stillness this is one of the great disciplines that is missing from the body of Christ and the reason it's missing is because like we're we are so over stimulated TV movies devices high-def this than a third that just being still where there is silence and quiet it is threatening to us we get nervous in the space where God wants to reveal the most to us and we avoid it and when we avoid that space we miss out on the abundant revelation deep where we get clarity about God's voice where his will for our lives becomes perfect and fixed and clear but one of the things I want to encourage you to do is just carve out some time where it's not just all right lord I want this I need this but like after you've done that take time to be still take time to be still like I needed some time to seem like you know for about 40 minutes like right before service started my soul is just this shoveled had too much going on I mean I just walked around the church parking lot about three times and stillness and it just settled my soul so I can come in here and share with you what God had on my heart but it is in stillness that you get that clarity that you get the understanding where you get instructions on what it is that God would have you to do how many of us believe God's Word tonight listen my prayer for somebody tonight is that you would leave kind of shifting your prayer focus like don't don't treat prayer like a debit card treat it like a date it's where I connect and the reward of prayer is intimacy with him fellowship with him access to him like we'd be impressed about um and I have access to this person now you got access to the King of Kings the Lord of lords he is waiting to hear from you let me go be himself higher he looks forward to fellowship with him amazing him that God looks forward to interacting with mess-ups like us he's sitting on the throne saying I miss my time with you and the stuff that you you trip on all the time and money and clothes and stuff he said speech you were in that's the only thing it fills up your prayer list it's not bad but he says pagan seek after that stuff I was gonna do that whether you prayed or not what I'm missing it's intimacy its fellowship connecting I want friendship with you and if you want friendship with God I'm asking you to stand to your feet tonight you're saying I want the Moses face to face you can't have that unless you're willing to connect when you can't see his face unless you're willing to seek Him when you can't see him and trust them when you can't trace them so tonight my appeal is to fold my first feel is for that person tonight you're here through Providence God led you here for a specific reason purpose and you want to have friendship with God you want to have an intimate relationship with God and and you've never had that maybe you've been in church and maybe you've been around but you've never said lord I want to be your friend I want to know you for myself Lord I want more than just the corporate experience I need you when nobody else is around and you want to make that decision say Lord I want to I want to be the real friend I'm gonna be a child I want to begin my relationship with you and you want beginning that relationship by being baptized into Christ's coming of member God's family God brought you here tonight to make that decision to enter into friendship with him and if that's your desire tonight to be baptized and to become a member of God's family to enter into friendship with him you've never been baptized or maybe you just need to start all over again you need to rebuild if that's your desire would you just raise your hand wherever you are simply say I want to begin friendship with God I need intimacy I want to know him for myself I've never been in my journey as a born-again Christian and I want to receive the Lord tonight for myself intimately and personally I'm gonna know him for myself that's you tonight just raise your hand wherever you are Holy Spirit speaking to you and I need you to understand that it just begins we're saying I realize I need saving I can't save myself Jesus did the hard work at the cross I want to take credit for his work and you want to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior tonight would you submit would you say yes would you just raise your hand wherever you are saying I just want to know the Lord for myself I'm gonna know the Lord for myself my second appeal is this is there some of us that need to rebuild so fast I just don't even know where to start just start here let your last conversation tonight be with Jesus and when we talk about four you don't overthink it just just use some of the building blocks begin with Thanksgiving confession pray for somebody else put your needs on the altar and just be still and then don't spend so much time looking for results or answers enjoy the relationship and I need you know that if if the focus of your prayer life becomes relational I need you to know that the transactions will flow so freely it's so abundantly that you won't have room enough to receive it I want somebody who has just gotten discouraged on prayer I hope you heard the quote earlier prayer is the answer for every problem you got it is the answer for every challenge every uphill journey that's the answer stop doing everything else and saying well you know pastor I tried this number I can't do nothing else work rate that's what you should have been doing the whole time that's the answer so when you get home even if you come at that place where I remember I first started free I couldn't even close my eyes and focus I just had to write it down write it down write God a letter and just be honest with God let pretty a safe place let it be where you retreat to and find safety right now do me a favor no do yourself a favor take thirty Seconds petition God for yourself maybe some of us haven't talked to God all day long this is your chance it's been a little time on him in Jesus name we pray amen

Channel: First Seventh-day Adventist Church

Views: 3,649

Rating: 4.7362638 out of 5

Keywords: sermon, sermons, church, bible, churchonline, powerful sermons, trusting god, faith, healing, preachers, 2020, series, sabbath, worship, worship songs, praise and worship, take me to church, church with me, I don't know what to do, Holy Spirit, churchonline2020

Id: DU-z7M7m8ts

Length: 47min 52sec (2872 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 16 2020