O Lord, I Cry Out to You | Pastor Shane Idleman

[Music] god help me honor you tonight remind us of your power of your presence that we should not fear in these times of uncertainty that we should look to you and you alone that trust can be one of the greatest forms spirit of the living god would you convict encourage uplift answer prayers tonight god as we cry out to you in jesus name i i want to just make a few announcements and my heartbeat is for this message i've been fasting all week like many of you i've been crying out to god we need you you see so much depravity so much perversion and it really gets just to a point of brokenness so we want to offer free copies i just wrote a book if my people and it's based on second chronicles 7 14 if we cry out and turn from our sin and he and seek his face and humble ourselves so we've got free copies we ordered a lot grab one when you leave and uh the message tomorrow we're actually opening the church tomorrow and the message tomorrow and it looked like it looks like john mcarthur has won temporarily his case will go to court at the beginning of the year go to trial and i'm hoping a lot of this nonsense will be over by them because the church has got to be the church so i am going to preach a different message tomorrow at our 10-year anniversary service 10-year or 10 things that i learned in 10 years of ministry all of you are welcome but you probably all won't fit so we've got overflow rooms available you can get more information from the ushers 9 a.m and 11 a.m and we're going on almost three years now a group of maybe 20 to 40 people meet every sunday morning at 6 00 a.m we just put on worship we illuminate the cross and we're at the altar we're praying we're fasting we're repenting we're getting our hearts right for the service i believe that really drives the church and something we're really excited about we are keeping saturdays in october at 6 00 p.m instead of 7. so we will still be meeting here at the stadium saturdays at six and then sunday mornings on location it's this has been an incredible outreach far greater than what we ever thought and then finally before i get into the message many of you know but those for those who don't uh my mother passed away this week and it was a rough week i know she wanted to be here for the 10-year anniversary it's the first time in 10 years i won't get a text afterwards encouraging me thank god for the encouraging moms i've been working on her memorial that we're actually going to have here october 10th at 2 p.m october 10th at 2 p.m and many people wondered you know if i want to take this weekend off and i said not a chance that's the last thing she would want she would want me to preach my heart out and and honor god and thank thank god thank god for the praying moms right thank god for the praying parents parents be encouraged be encouraged your prayers will outlive you even when you're not here your prayers will go to the throne room of grace and pull down the blessings for your children the guidance for your children the spiritual warfare that is coming against them find yourself in the prayer closet this week doesn't matter if you don't see anything now for faith is the substance of not this of things not seen we pray not because we see it but because we trust in god so i had one objective tonight and one objective only god made it clear to me i won't get into the details how but my job tonight is not to go into a long teaching or this or expository or topical my job tonight is to motivate you to cry out to god to remind you who we serve sometimes i think we're too worried more worried about the government than we are of god and we've got to get back to fearing god almighty for whoever fears god does not fear man and you can walk out boldly into the power of the holy spirit when you fear god so the title is lord o lord i cry out to you oh lord i cry out to you let me tell you briefly the flow of the service as you know we went into extended worship extended worship more worship than normal and if you don't like that that means you needed to be in that type of worship because the hearts not right we should the heartbeat of your soul should be prayer and worship you should wake up in the morning wanting to pray and worship the reason many of you don't is because you're putting garbage on at night and you're not you're not edifying yourself spiritually when you go to bed so you're waking up depraved and discouraging and you have to i would put on worship music and get into the word and let that saturate your heart so a few weeks ago we called a sacred assembly and we've heard from people from pakistan to pennsylvania this week all over wanting to be encouraged and a sacred assembly basically is coming together there's one goal there's one motive there's one agenda and that is to honor god and to remember who god is and to get our hearts right and aligned with him and his word and obedience to his word so before i talk about this requirement of crying out to god before i tell you what it is let me tell you what prevents it because often especially with my kids i can tell them maybe not how something works but show them how it doesn't work to have them better understand and so number one what's going to prevent revival in your own heart what if you're dead let me put it this way if you're kind of dead to the things of god you know you've just grown distant and your marriage is kind of in turmoil you have no relationship anymore and you don't really want to read the bible and someone dragged you here and you really had other things to do and there's there's no desire for god and and there it could be traced to one of five things number one i've talked about this before i won't go into great length but that is pride pride pride must die in you or nothing of heaven can live in you proud man scoffer is his name proverbs would say and and a proud man you think a proud man is going to cry out to god no they don't need that they're proud they're arrogant they're not going to cry out to god they've got it down they've got their eschatology and their theology and their pneumatology and their bible index and all the greek and the hebrew and they they're proud they know who god is pride will prevent you pride will prevent you from really going deep with god i've known a lot of pastors over the years many of them aren't in ministry it's a it's a fact that about one out of ten uh stay in the ministry when they start out and a lot of times they think they can they can plan a church with a cookie-cutter version of what they've seen before and they go out in pride and i struggle with this the number one uh the number one thing that a church planter will say and why they're pro proud and arrogant is we will say this i'm going to go do things the right way that other church i came from or that other ministry i'm going to do it the right way and and pride begins to prevent us and god says i will take that lampstand i will humble you so i just want to encourage you tonight mainly men i think because we can be so proud we we think that a real man is is strong and and does this and the image that the world has of us but that you must humble yourself under the mighty hand of god in due time he will exalt you i think that is is for someone here tonight you need to humble yourself you want you're wanting to exalt yourself but you need to humble yourself tonight under the mighty hand of god and then god says in due time i will exalt you i will lift you up i will put you up because when god begins to raise you up it's because you've been humbled [Music] and then number two another reason why we don't cry out to god we have unconfessed sin and unconfessed sin robs us a spiritual life and i believe that's why so many christians at my heart breaks for so many christians i know so many and so do you and maybe it's you here tonight you there's unconfessed sin there's a besetting sin that keeps taking you down and you walk around like dead man walking and you're just the sin has got you bound and you can't cry out to god because you're bound in sin and it's unconfessed it's not repented of and and somehow you you somewhat you kind of enjoy it and you you hold on to it knowing it's destroying you and then number three that prevents us from crying out to god is there's uncertainty uncertainty well i don't know shane i'm not sure god does that anymore i mean all this talk of revival i don't know and that person will never receive from god in a powerful way i believe i've always had this from day one when we planted the church with 10 people 10 years ago that we need to come to church expecting god to move where has that gone the spirit of expectation we shouldn't expect well an announcement three songs a offering a final song 30 minute sermon a closing song see you later where is the spirit going to move in that how is the spirit going to move you've already got it now you've already said god this is how we're doing church so uncertainty and and kind of having this idea of of well we don't want to be open to this and we don't want to be open to that and i think it's it's a wrong view and then number four one of my favorite topics i'm going to preach on it again shortly i love to do it every year a wrong view of the holy spirit a wrong view of the holy spirit many people don't want to cry out to god and get emotional because they they say that's emotionalism and that's not real really why why would god wouldn't god give us emotion have you ever held your newborn child that's pretty emotional there's there's something about our emotions being engaged god has given us this wonderful experience that we can experience god and then finally of course another reason why many people do not cry out to god is there is unbelief they do not believe in god and i want to encourage you tonight i don't know how you came in but i know how you need to leave you need to leave knowing god having a relationship with him so what i did and i believe god directed me is we were looking at joel last week correct the book of joel and joel talked a few different times about crying out to god in chapter one and it's interesting i began to look at it again this week and each time there's three different times each time he mentioned crying out to god that verb was used differently it was actually a different verb each time it wasn't the same type of crying out and i said okay lord what what is this and i began to study these words and it was incredible and let me just share them with you as we begin to stir our hearts for closing worship and my thought is during closing worship we don't want to be in a hurry if you need to leave i understand if you're bored well that's on you but you there should be a hunger for worship and a hunger for more of god and during closing worship you can you can spread out a little bit and and and kind of loosen up a little bit and just get your heart right before god and get out of the seats and and maybe be more engaged if you would like i'm not forcing that i just want to offer that to you that a sacred assembly often is not pretty it's not well polished it's messy when god moves [Music] among a group of people there's emotions there's engagement there's crying out to god so in joel chapter 1 verse 14 we read last week he said consecrate a fast call a sacred assembly gather the elders and all the inhabitants into the land gather them into the church and cry out to the lord so that's where i got this title from cry out to the lord and that word there that verb in this case means this it's an utter it's a it's an utterance of anxiety and alarm and distress and sorrow well that doesn't sound very encouraging he said cry out to god in other words the situation that you are in the anxiety and the alarm and the distress how'd that motivate you to cry out to god and god's word is very clear we need to be real about what's going on look at the laws that are being passed in sacramento look at the direction of pedophiles and look at the the up the uptake of the lgbt community and all these different policies and procedures and groups and things that are anti-god and anti-god's word and anti-holiness and we need to wake up look at what's going on around us so this word here this verb cry out to the lord it's an utterance of anxiety and alarm and distress and isn't it interesting that false prophets throughout the old testament do you know what one of the number one traits of a false prophet the number one trait you can test me on this go throughout the old testament it was tell people it was to tell people peace peace when there was no peace and if you wonder how are some of these pastors embracing this or how are some of these christians embracing all of this be careful they might not know the lord because a false prophet i'm not i'm not just using that loosely but i truly believe that true spokesman's women and men for god will will call things out they will point things out they will tell you what's going on yes the times are dire yes this is devastating yes what's going on is not pretty if we're not careful we need to wake up because there are groups infiltrating our nation that want to cause a rebellion from the inside out i hope you know that this the antifa and all of that is funded by people funded paid by people to cause an alarm in america and that's why in something like this what they did here he said come and cry out to the lord of just there's an alarm there's a distress there's a sorrow oh god there's a desperation god we call out to you and i was so concerned when sacramento passed that law about the the age of of of the the pedophile act or differ i don't want to call it that but that's basically what it is they that where are the prayer meetings where are the prayer meetings where are they crying out to god where's the fasting it's like well oh that's too bad let me post something on facebook like god's gonna see that there's no desperation and that's why this this word here it's it's call out an alarm in distress and sorrow and say oh god we if you do not move we are lost if you do not intervene we are lost if you do not bring us back from the pit of destruction oh god we are going down and we cry out to you in distress and then he switches the word in chapter 1 verse 19 oh lord to you i cry out for fire has devoured the open pastures amen i cry out to you lord fire is devouring our land the flame has burned all the trees in the field and this word in the hebrew is kara kara it's to call to proclaim god's word so see there's a distress and there's an anxiety but then he says don't give up don't give in don't be discouraged don't stay there don't stay there recognize your situation but then cry out call out proclaim god's word like jonah did oh nineveh in 40 days god's going to destroy you and the people repented jeremiah called out and the people did not repent there was a crying out of proclaiming of god's word and i believe that sometimes god's word needs to be proclaimed forcefully and boldly all his word is in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones i'm weary of holding it back why because the spirit of god is wanting to draw people and convict people so he says cry out to god and you see him going down the list there's there's anxiety there's alarm there's distress there's sorrow and then once you get to the people i believe he does that in verse 14 to get the people to realize this is dire this is dire do you do do you all agree that we need to wake up we are in a dire situation look at the look at the place i just sent my wife another video the people are just grabbing kids from costco parking lots or park they're just grabbing it from their parents when in the world has that ever happened and more laws are being passed you should don't do it just take my word for it the sex curriculum in our schools is perversion it mocks the holiness and righteousness of god and the beauty of marriage and the beauty of sex the way god designed it they're mocking at god they are perverting his justice they're shaking their little fists in the in the nostrils of god and i tell you that's a battle you can never win so he said come into my house and understand how bad it is how distressed it is how there's so much anxiety and fear recognize it but do not live there i think that's for someone as well tonight you're living in fear you're living in fear too much you're looking at the media you're worried about what's going on around you more than what's going on inside of you you're allowing fear and these coveted mandates and what's going on and you're allowing fear to control you and you're not trusting in god that's a sure sign that you're on the wrong path because then fear begins to control us and grip us one thing i can tell you now i probably wouldn't say if my mom was still here but i don't i don't know if i ever saw her with the mask and she would put it on what she needed to but she just went about living her life it's like well if i die i die i got is god's got my back no we don't just willingly walk into things i know that but at some point you guys say lord i trust you because the safest place you can be in this is in the center of god's will anytime i get on an airplane sometimes i think all these people are very safe right now because if i'm in the center of god's will there's nothing that can happen you're trusting in almighty god and we've been trusting in too many things we've been trusting in politicians and watching their feeds and uh oh here goes the death rate did you know that many of those numbers are manipulated and skewed and altered to bring fear and anxiety into the hearts of people the enemy is working overtime so you need to release that tonight and say god i've been fearful i've been anxious i've been trusting in everything but you and tonight i make a decision to cast off fear and put on the spirit of the living god god's word says he doesn't even give you a spirit of fear but of peace and of a sound mind what is a sound mind a sound mind that concentrates on god and focuses on god [Applause] and then he said when you come into my house you call out to me you proclaim my word faithfully you remind the people who i am and what i've done and there's such a huge movement it kind of embarrasses me in the church that so many christians i mean christian pastors and i want to be careful i'm not here to put down anyone i i can slide down that slippery slope just as quick as anyone i got to stay anchoring god's word or else i'll i'll do the same thing but they they go to the pulpit almost like they have to be apologetic apology i know god's words that's kind of tough i know i don't like that blood stuff either and the hell i it just it's apologetic no wonder people are being converted no wonder lies aren't being changed no matter wonder marriages aren't being restored no wonder prodigal sons are coming home because god doesn't say make my word paulo pull it he says make it powerful by the preaching and proclaiming of the truth and all of the scripture paul said timothy preach all of the truth warn exhort rebuke encourage preach the difficult truths and preach the the wonderful truths preach heaven and preach hell preach grace but preach holiness and you'll be amazed at the lives that are changed when a man or woman is filled with the spirit of god and they simply proclaim god's word faithfully it's amazing it's amazing because you really don't have to do a lot you need to spend a lot of time with god know his word and proclaim it and then the spirit of god convicts and draws and leads and quickens the spirit of another person and begins to work in their heart i better take a drink before this next one i like this next one too verse 20 chapter 1 verse 20. i also wondered why is there so much crying out because that's our only hope when we cry out to god it shows how desperate we are correct [Music] when you when you cry for something when you cry about something there's a desperation in your heart now you can't manufacture it don't take some water and splash it on your face and say i'm crying or get weird and cry this cannot be manufactured it comes from a broken humble heart where the holy spirit of god is breaking and breaking and breaking and you get to a point of of total submission and faithfulness to god he said something interesting here even the beasts of the field even the beasts of the field cry out to you god for the water brooks are dried up and the fire has devoured the open pasture and that word cry out is to long for to pant even the beast even the like and i thought instantly of psalms as a deer pants after water so my soul pants for you and he said when you cry out for me it can't be superficial it has to be a longing for or a panting or a strong desire and if you don't have that tonight say god i want that i don't want to leave here i don't want to leave here just just normal and lukewarm i want my soul to pant after you as a deer pants for water i knew i wrote it down so pants my soul for you or oh god my soul thirsts for god for the one true and living god there's a desire there's a thirst and this is what non-emotional people don't like they want to say well can't worship just be nice and tidy that's great for your house but that's terrible for worship because god says real worship and real prayer is travail did you know that real when you're worshiping your pro and praying biblically speaking a lot of times it's travail when when zion travails sons and daughters are born and he likens it to a pregnant woman giving birth saying oh god i need to hear from you you need to save my children you need to rebuild my marriage you need to strengthen my faith and god i cry out to you i'm travailing and i want you to answer lord my soul thirsts for you how many of you are thirsty for god tonight do you know how you can tell what does your spiritual diet consist of are you feeding your mind with the things of god or the things of the world is there a hunger for god and what i like about being hungry for god is it's it's contagious what i mean by that is the more you you you hunger and desire the things of god the more you read his word the more you worship the hungrier you become this isn't like a natural appetite you eat too much you're full you're done all with god it's it's the bursting of the seams it's this living water that christ talked about that's why that's why when people fast they often have a deeper more intimate relationship during with god during that time because the flesh is starved and their their hunger for for food and and the things of the flesh has been minimized and the spirit is being lifted up and built up and and they begin to pant after god and they begin to hunger for god and desire after god and i think those are very healthy things i want to teach my children how to hunger and thirst after god and pick themselves back up when they [Music] fall prayer and worship that's what we're going to go into when we conclude the service prayer and worship the two primary ways that we express longing for god did you know that it's not necessarily in our words although that's wonderful but when we pray and when we worship that's how we express longing for god i'm going to just briefly talk about prayer i'm actually going to remind you about the power of prayer as we go into that in just a little bit i borrowed an excerpt from tomorrow morning's sermon i hope that's okay so you're going to hear a snap a snapshot of tomorrow's sermon and i've read this before to members of west side i think back when the pandemic started and i want you to remember this when you go into prayer tonight the prayer is a great sin killer amen it's a fear quencher it's a power bringer it's a victory giver prayer is a holiness promoter it's a lust eliminator it's obstacle remover it's a time changer it's a life sustainer it's a demon slayer it's a wisdom giver it's a peace promoter it's a depression lifter it's an anxiety demolisher it's an anger suppressor it's a weakness remover it's a strength booster and it's a revival stimulator when the church gets on their face before god and cries out when sons and when zion travails sons and daughters are born there's a cri there's there's god bursts things in your heart but when you start to pray those things become a reality prayer moves the hand of god prayer will do anything that god can do you receive you receive not because you ask not jesus how do we pray our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name you are glorious you are great you are lifted up on the throne and when you get a glimpse of god you have to pray when you see god and you experience god our prayer becomes your heartbeat that's why i don't know why so many people are confused when they ask well what did paul mean to be praying all day that's impossible shane no it's not he's not stopping pray got to work but there's the heartbeat of prayer it's the fragrance of prayer it's the atmosphere of prayer that god is an ever-present help in time of need you it's the life you lead you're breathing that that you're the essence of god and you're you're taking in that throughout your day and your prayers are are throughout the day and it's a life of prayer and when you experience god he will change you it will change your heart i just read this week and it just leaped out at me i love this story when isaiah when he said when he had a vision of god he said it was in the year the king uzziah died i saw the lord high lifted up the train of his robe filled the entire temple and the cherubin covered their face and covered their feet and they flew and they cried out holy holy holy is our god holy holy is our god and the temple the foundation of the temple begin to shake and when you move the foundations of this temple almighty god is moving among you and he said oh i'm a man of unclean lips and i dwell among the people of unclean lips and god begin to remove that uncleanness so let me encourage you tonight even though you don't see the prayers being answered they will be answered at my mom's memorial there's coming a few ladies have been praying with her every week for 20 some years and the power of prayer many of those prayers were not realized i tell you the story i know some of you have heard it before but i just i love it i would go out i'm getting ready and probably already had a few drinks and and my mom would just i'd say don't pray for me tonight i want to have some fun don't pray for me i want to have some fun and she she would put that bible over those acd albums add albums back then and judas priest and metallica and the darkness and the sin and she would say devil you can't have my son i'm going to pray i'm going to intercede on behalf of my family and you can do the same thing it's not how profound your prayers are it's how powerful they are because they're going to god or the god alone the power of prayer moves the mountains the power of prayer will shape your destiny the power of prayer will restore your marriage the power of prayer will bring your prodigal sons home get into a life of prayer be hungry for prayer go to bed praying and wake up praying watch the difference that it makes and now i want to remind you here is who we are crying out to tonight you can do this yourself google all the names for jesus and you're going to get real excited as you go through the list almighty one alpha and omega the advocate means he goes before you the final authority there is no one greater the bread of life there is no nutrition that will fulfill you more than christ he is the beloved son of god he is the bride room he is the chief cornerstone he is the comforter he is the conqueror he is the commander-in-chief i he is my deliverer he is a faithful and true witness he is the good shepherd he is a great high priest he is the head of the church he is emmanuel he is the ultimate judge he is the king of kings and the lord of lords and every new will bow and every tongue will confess that christ is lord he is the lamb of god he is the light of the world he is a lion of the tribe of judah he is the victorious one as a matter of fact he is wonderful counselor prince of peace everlasting father and you begin to see who christ is all hell king jesus that's why we came here tonight all hell king jesus we came to worship you did you know it's okay i did this in our church many months ago and i got a little bit in trouble for that but i'm going to do it now did you know it's okay to take your knee and you take your knee and you say oh hell king jesus that's the kind of knee you take and you say god you're on the throne i lift you up i bow my knee to jesus christ you are the head of the church oh god have mercy on us god have mercy on our children have mercy on our nation we have shed in this innocent blood we have murdered the guiltless we have called sin good and called good evil oh god would you have mercy on us intervene on the state of california there's a song we sing there's power in the name of jesus there's power in the name of jesus i don't know what why you're here i don't know what your spiritual condition there's people all the way down this way and down this way but i can tell you by the authority of god's word and by personal experience that there is power in the name of jesus to break every sin to break every bondage to break every addiction yes you might have to fight a little bit god's word never said you don't have to fight as a matter of fact jesus said my you will fight you will pull down heaven you will go into spiritual warfare you will cast out demons you will conquer sin it's going to be messy but you will not leave defeated there is power in the name of jesus break every chain break every chain have you heard that song i hit rewind on my computer 15 times this morning and i got to a point of total desperation and hitting rewind and hitting rewind and hitting rewind and saying jesus break every chain in this place lebron reminds you what demon can beat him what power can overcome him what force can discourage him what agenda can stop him what army can defeat him what ruler can control him what nation can ban him what king can dethrone him i've got more if you want him what king can dethrone him what law can hinder him what plan can thwart him what disaster can discourage him what situation can confuse him all of that god just poured into my heart this morning and he said shane remind the people that i'm still on the throne no one can overcome my plans nothing can beat me [Music] and i'm going to leave you with this question what sin what sin can limit him nothing no matter what you're dealing with tonight no matter what struggle depression shane you don't know what i've been through i don't but he does [Music] when he paid that point on that that price on the cross and those famous words to telesty to tell us in the greek it is finished it is finished in that point in history that the wrath of god came upon the sun and jesus cried out to eli eli my god my god why have you forsaken me and at that point in history the sin of hernandez that's why we worship do not leave here tonight without knowing who christ is so we're going to go into a time of worship i'll come back out up and and remind you about baptisms and prayer i want to baptize you tonight if you've been lukewarm if you need to recommit your life if you need to come to jesus for the first time it's okay to get a little wet and a little cold for someone who died on the cross bear naked the son of man he could have pulled down the armies of heaven and they would have conquered all of rome with the breath of god's nostrils he would have wiped out that entire city but he stood there and every easter every resurrection day i'm reminded that the nails the nails didn't keep him there [Music] isn't that funny i'm going to nail him to the cross that didn't keep him there [Music] the love the love for you for you for you for you for you that's why that's why he did it for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son whosoever whosoever whosoever the most bile criminal [Music] whosoever believes that jesus is the son of god confess those sins and believe and you will be saved oh god we lift you up tonight we magnify strengthen us strengthen us we call out the evil in this nation we call out the evil [Music] let us hear that houses are being erupted with praise and worship and families are coming to know you people are crying out to you lord would you please playing revival and awakening and we ask this in jesus name amen amen i'm going to come back up but you can go ahead and stand up we are not in a hurry to worship god if you left it like a stand that's fine sick that's fine you want to spread out you want to kneel you want to do whatever it takes get your heart a position of crying out to god thank you you

Channel: Westside Christian Fellowship

Views: 2,741

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Shane Idleman, Westside Christian Fellowship, Westside Christian, Westside Christian Fellowship Leona Valley, Westside Christian Leona Valley, WCF, WCFAV, God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Christian, Christianity, Sermon, Message, Service, Gospel

Id: 9Ttr6H7T3kM

Length: 40min 42sec (2442 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 27 2020