Spending Time With God

[Applause] thank you so much am I on can y'all hear me okay good good how are y'all doing you brave this rain didn't you oh my word I'm so glad you made it out and we're so glad that all of you are watching online we just appreciate the fact that you joined with us to study the Word of God that you have a heart for the things have got it and we just encourage you today to be blessed and know that God is on your side and he is with you and he is for you I know that many times you may you poster your prayer requests for us to pray and we do pray for you and we love you why don't you give them a good hand clap here clap here just to let him know that we know they're out there amen and amen well you can turn in your Bibles to Matthew 14 verse 22 we are going to look up a few scriptures tonight we're in a series called encountering God through the Bible this is number eight my teaching number eight we just finished an overview of each of the books of the Bible and so tonight I want to talk to you about practical ideas for spending time with God just giving you some practical things that you can do first of all I want you to know that spending time with the Lord it's not a law it's a privilege it's not a law it's a privilege to enjoy it's not about being legalistic you have to read so much a day you have to pray so much a day no that's not in the Bible really it's about growing closer to the Lord and learning from him so that's what we're talking about just having a daily devotional time where you grow closer to the Lord and where you learn about him and you get close to him and first of all I want us to look at two or three scriptures just to lay a foundation of the importance of setting aside a specific time to do this every day we know we're supposed to do it but the Bible teaches us about the specifics in many ways so Matthew 14 22 verses 23 if you got it I got it immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the and go on ahead of him to the other side while he dismissed the crowd and after he had dismissed him he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray and later that night he was there alone say alone you see Jesus needed time alone with the Father he needed time alone there with the father how much more do we and when at one point Jesus said I can do nothing apart from the father and so by his example we learn that we need to spend time with the Lord every day and then we know that James 4:8 says draw close to God and he'll draw close to you we know that the Bible says in first Chronicles 2nd 6:11 look to the Lord in his strength seek his face always remember what Jesus said seek you first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you so weird to seek Jesus weird to pursue him weird to pursue a relationship with him and the way you do that is by spending time with him do you want to turn over to revelations with me revelation 3:20 these are the words of Jesus also revelation 3:20 and in the Bible Jesus is talking to believers and he says this he says Here I am I stand at the door and knock if you hear my voice and you open the door I will come in and I will eat with you and you will be with me you see Jesus this is your personal invitation from Jesus but it's up to you to open the door Jesus is saying you know I want to fellowship with you I want to have a meal with you I want to spend time with you I'm knocking at the door of your life will you let me in will you open the door and spend time with me I think that's so powerful and it has you begin to do this you know you will just open the door to a wonderful relationship with the Lord and you will grow closer to him you'll grow spiritually you'll grow in your relationship with him but you'll grow to see Jesus as a friend as your friend and and not only that you learn that God you know it's about every area of your life and that he listens to you and he hears what you say I'll never forget Robin Robin Smith he's been in the church here for years and I'll never get when your mother she was my Sunday school teacher for for a while when I was really small but I remember when my dad really started teaching people to that they can know the Lord for themselves and God wants to bless you and and so he was just teaching them who they were in Christ and and so his mother mrs. Angela Smith came to my mother and said oh this thing happened in our in our life and it was a it was a not a tragic thing but it was our hardship that they went through and my dad said to her well Angela why didn't you call us and let us know so we could pray with you and my dad said I'll never forget what she said she said well pastor Osteen you taught us that we can pray ourselves she said you taught us that God will hear us and she said he has heard us and he's answered our prayer and my dad said that was the greatest compliment to him that she really believed and understood that God would hear her and so when you develop this relationship that's closest intimate personal relationship with the Lord you learn who God really is and that he really loves you and cares about you so anyway I want to talk about what can you do during this time you know and I just want to say this there is no formula but there are scriptures that guide us and you just have to realize that I'm just giving you suggestions there's no specific pattern but there are four things that the Bible tells us to do in his presence and I want to mention those four things number one we're to take the time to express our love and gratitude to the Lord so when you sit down with the Lord you know just take the time I think it's the best to do it in the beginning because the Bible says enter into his gates with Thanksgiving enter into his courts with praise but the other thing is that just to worship the Lord to express your worship to the Lord you know worship is not just for church and worship is not just singing unto the Lord it's saying father I love you Jesus I love you I I worship you I adore you you're my everything you're my life and you're worthy to be praised your holy yoga just to take the time to worship God like that in your personal time and and also I think the aspect of you know bringing him thanks coming with a grateful heart the Bible says to offer him the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving and I think it's so important too before we ever ask the Lord anything to thank him for what you do have thanked him for the things that he has done for you thank him for salvation for forgiveness for health for strength for life thank him for what he has done for you and so spend time thanking the Lord you know what you think about it it does of you have children you don't want your children to come to you only when they need something they have a list of things know you want their heart don't you you want their affection you want their time and attention to and so it's the same way with our Heavenly Father he wants our heart he wants to spend time with us and he wants to know that we're a grateful people praise always precedes the promise amen you have to remember that Psalm 50 verse 23 I think it's so powerful because it says this he who sacrifices thank offerings to the Lord prepares the way that I may show him the salvation of God prays prepares the way and if you look in the Amplified Bible and look at that word and the salvation and the and the Hebrew it means deliverance it means so much more than salvation and so as you thank God you are preparing the way for your own deliverance amen for your own breakthrough for the answers to your prayers for the promises to come another thing that you can do in your devotional time is of course spend time in the Word of God and we've talked a lot about that we talked I did one whole message on 15 things that happen when you read the Word of God it's so powerful if you missed it you can watch it online but that's not what I want to talk about I want to talk about practically how do you read the Bible where where can you start what can you do and the first thing I want to say is before you read the Bible just start praying God give me understanding give me wisdom give me revelation those are all scriptural prayers david said in psalm 119 he said open my eyes lord that i may behold wondrous things from your law i love that prayer I pray it often and then that Paul prayed the Apostle Paul prayed God give me a spirit of wisdom and revelation so pray that God will open your understanding another thing is make sure you get a translation that you can read it and that you can understand how many of you know you don't have to go to the old King James Version and you can get a translation and pastor Jeremy did an excellent job talking about why we have all these different translations so powerful but just personally if I were recommending translations I recommend the New International Version and I recommend the New Living Translation those are great easy-to-understand versions another thing is get a reading plan to help you how many of you know a plan helps you and there's so many out google today reading bible reading plans there are so many on on the internet so you can look you can download any of those and then there are one-year Bibles that you can read the Bible in a year but you know you just have to find a plan that fits you it depends on how much time you have and I always say if you're new at this or if you need a plan this is my simple plan just start in Matthew and read one chapter a day there and then go into proverbs read one chapter a day for wisdom and then go to Psalms and read one chapter a day for encouragement I I met a lady you right there you tell me you said I've been reading on that plan ever since you told me and that has helped her a lot and I appreciate when I have feedback like that if you if you need more time hey you can read two chapters in Matthew or if you want to do the New Testament and the Old Testament read start in Genesis one chapter in the Old Testament and so that's just a simple plan for you to develop the habit and develop consistency that help you a lot then another thing that I've sort of reiterated this a lot but don't focus on what you don't understand don't get hung up on what you don't understand rather put into practice what you do understand and God will open your understanding as you grow in the Lord you'll see you'll hear a sermon until they'll that person will will explain that verse or you'll read another scripture and or the Holy Spirit will put understanding in your spirit so don't get hung up on things like that when it's still to this day when I don't understand the scripture I'll just say Lord show me revealed to me what that means did I just give the Lord time to you know to show me that and he always does he's so good God is so good amen okay another thing the Bible teaches us to do in his presence is to present your prayer needs and your requests to the Lord to pray proverbs 3 6 says this in all your ways acknowledge God and what will he do he will direct your paths acknowledge God when you're when you spend time with him what is going on in your day that day do you have an interview do you have a and something you have to present a presentation do you have a child that needs help whatever it is for that day acknowledge God and say God I need help today I need help from my childhood need help for this presentation and you know the Bible says cast all your care upon the Lord for he cares for you and he wants to sustain you one version says cast cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you David said pour out your heart to God so you just talked to God out of your heart and let him know those things that are on your heart let him know the prayer requests that you have because God is interested in every area of your life I'll never forget this and this is it almost seems to too trivial but it happened to me when I was years ago might when my kids were little and I was just so busy and preaching in and taking care of twin girls and a little boy I I couldn't I didn't have the time to take care of my nails and for girls hair and nails are important for girls right Nell's it's all about that and so anyway I was washing dishes and I looked at my nails and they look terrible and I hadn't had not had time to take care of them and so anyway I just said to the Lord I just came about me lord I wish you to help me take better care of my nails well I just I was surprised I even said it not just let it go what do you know in two weeks time we got a call from a lady in our church and she said the Lord put on my heart to do your nails free of charge and I know isn't that amazing she did that for five years for me free and and all because I was able just to you know I was confident to say something trivial to the Lord you know what I mean just to say God I need help with my nails and God is so good god is so good to do things like that okay and then number four the Bible teaches us to be still before God I think this is very important I don't think we do it enough sometime to be still to him before him to allow him to speak to us allow him to encourage us allow him to impart into our lives and and to receive from him I want you to say that we see from him it's important for us to receive from God Psalm 46:10 says to be still and know that I'm God be still be still and then David said in Psalm 5:3 I think this is the amplified bible it says in the morning i watch and wait for you to speak to my heart you wait for the lord of spirit let's turn to a few scriptures I want you to look at Isaiah 40 with me I say a 40 verse 31 I'm gonna read out of the New International Version and I just want you to I guess I just want you to sort of meditate on these scriptures about waiting on the Lord I mean still before the Lord because we live in such an act addicted world don't we and I think it's very hard to be still sometimes I don't do something I don't know about you but sometimes I sit down to read my Bible in the morning and my legs are jittery it's like they want to go they want to go they want to get up and go you know but I just had to say no you're not gonna get up go you're gonna sit here and then you're gonna enjoy your time with the Lord and I always do but anyway Isaiah 40:31 talking about waiting on the Lord says but those who wait on the Lord what will happen God will renew your strength they will soar on wings like eagles they will run and not grow weary they will walk and not faint it is so important to be still before the Lord and just wait patiently just wait in his presence to not get in a hurry and not say I'm just gonna read fast I'm gonna pray fast I got to get up go but just to be still and know that when you wait on the Lord something powerful happens he renews your strength and your energy and he causes you to be like an eagle think about that an eagle that soars above everything you may be having all this trouble but you know an eagle can soar way above the ground and you he can cause you to soar way above the things that are troubling you and the things that are on your heart and your mind turn to Psalm 130 Psalm 130 I'm gonna look at verses five and six and he said this is I don't know if this is David or not but it says I wait for the Lord my soul waits one version I think it's the amplified version it says my whole being waits on you I wait for the Lord my soul waits and in his word I put my hope my soul waits for the Lord more than Watchmen wait for the morning more than Watchmen wait for the morning sometimes we have to quiet our soul amen our mind our will and emotions and just say be still be quiet and wait on the Lord and then look at some Psalm 23 a chapter we know so well Psalm 23 the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want he makes me to lie down and pastures in green pastures he leads me beside the what the still quiet waters he restores my soul when you spend time with the Lord your soul is restored now that can be your spirit that could be your mind that can be your will that could be your emotions I don't know about you but when sometimes when I get really tired after I'm studying a long time like this afternoon I studied all day and then my mind it's like it got a cramp in it and I know that I need to rest and so I lay down for twenty or thirty minutes and whether I go to sleep or not I let my mind relax and do you know when I get up from that I'm like a different person my mind is rejuvenated it to learn it's focused and so when we spend time with the Lord it's the same way we are rejuvenated in so many ways amen so when you're quiet before the Lord he will renew your strength amen all righty now those are four things the Bible says we could do in his presence so let me give you some more practical things I call these how do you develop the habit of spending time with the Lord number one just like Jesus find a quiet place in time that you can do this every day the Bible says that Jesus liked to go to the mountain he'd like to go to lonely places so you need to find a time alone a quiet time and I want to read and if you want to turn to it you can mark 1 mark 1:35 it's just a powerful scripture about Jesus and and it says this very early in the morning while it was still dark Jesus got up he left the house and he went off to a solitary place where he prayed and Simon and his companions went to look for him so he's always looking for you when you're alone with God aren't they yeah I had three little kids always looking for me a phone always ringing but listen Simon his companions went to look for him and they found him and they explained everyone is looking for you now that's what the enemy tells you every time you sit down to be with the Lord my dad used to say this is so funny he said sometimes the enemy the thought that would come to my mind when I sit down to be with the Lord is the present that's the president calling you when the phone rang but anyway we always will have people and things pulling at us but we have to make this a priority that's not point we've got to make it a priority to have this quiet time in this quiet place and in this place that you really enjoy in your house or wherever it is and the key point is just to get alone jesus knew that he couldn't continue to give out if you didn't take the time to fill up and that's the same way it is with us we can't go go go and never fill up our spirit we as I said we live in this activity addicted world and sometimes this is what we feel like if we're not moving and going then we're not productive but that is such a lie you know you may feel like when you're reading the Bible when you're sitting there waiting on the Lord that you're not doing much but what you're doing is you're growing spiritually and you're getting closer to the Lord and you're gaining wisdom and you know what else your training your spiritual ears to hear the voice of God and so you have to realize that you can't be drawn in by all that's going on we live in a 24-hour Society when you think about it you can go shopping anytime you I mean even all night on the Internet you can shop you have lot entertainment anything you want to 24 hours a day and so this world tries to pull at us the activities and entertainment try to pull at us but we've got to develop this habit to be quiet and alone with God Matthew 6 success I love this when you pray go into your room and close the door and pray to your father who is unseen you have to learn to close the door to everything so that you can take care of the main thing and you know this can look different at different people I like to do this in the morning like to get up with my coffee and I like to just sit there and talk to the Lord and I like to read my Bible and spend time in prayer I have friends that like to do this in the evening and but it's what is best for you but if you've never done it on a regular basis let me just encourage you to do this start with 10 minutes don't say I'm gonna spend an hour with the Lord you probably won't do that just start with 10 minutes and so I'm going to read a chapter I'm gonna pray for 10 minutes you know I there's a lady on the staff and a friend of mine that she said when she was in college that a minister challenged the kids the the students to spend five minutes a day with the Lord and he challenged them make a commitment and a vow to do it well she did she made that vow and she said I was going to keep that vow and she said I started spending five minutes with the Lord and she said it begin to transfer my life and she said then it grew into 10 or 15 and 20 minutes a day and so if you just start small I'm going to spend five or ten minutes of the Lord and I'm gonna do these things that we talked about it'll change your day number to be consistent say consistent consistent consistency forms life long habits and that's what we're going for you know it takes about 30 days to form a new habit how many of you know that and if we are diligent to make time for the Lord every day it becomes a part of who you are it's just like you don't leave home without it you you don't leave home that's a part of getting dress for me I spend time with the Lord when they say how long does it take you to get dressed I factored in my time with the Lord because that's just who I am he is the vine and we are the branches and we have to stay connected to the vine amen someone said the spiritual disciplines are the pathways to spiritual maturity spiritual disciplines disciplines are the pathway to spiritual maturity you know sometimes we think oh it's too hard to do you know I have been wanting to change the way out I'm eating just to eat a little bit better less chemicals less sugar and things like that I just had that desire but it took me a long time to get to it but I kept praying about it and so anyway finally I decided I'm gonna do it and I'm gonna and I had X Y & Z exactly what I was going to eat and not going to eat and you know what at first it was okay but when you got to but day 7 and 10 it got a little bit hard because I wanted my chocolate brownie you know I wanted my diet dr. pepper and and but you know what's amazing I pushed through the hard time and I just kept making sure I had enough food and that and that I wasn't keeping my mind on that well do you know I made it 30 days and after 30 days I'm telling you I wanted to keep going and so I have continued that and now it's because I have changed my habit I have eat better now it's not because I just wanted to try it it's because it's a part of who I am what I'm saying is this when you do this it may be hard to turn off that alarm to get up but just do it anyway push through those hard times and pretty soon it's like oh I'm up and I'm spending my time with the Lord because your body will tell you can't do it but you can do it and sometimes we plan on being too tired do you ever do that I know I'm gonna be too tired to get up in the morning I know I'm not gonna be able to read my Bible in the morning no don't don't even say things like that you're gearing your mind up for it saying I'm gonna get up in the morning to have my time with the Lord or whenever you do it number three is this minimize your interruptions to the best of your abilities I know sometimes this is almost impossible to do it 100% but do what you can turn off your phone focus on the Lord make it a priority and you know I know this can look different in different seasons of your life I know that you know right now and my since my kids are a little bit older it's I have a lot more time with the Lord then I did I never uninterrupted time with the Lord than I did when my kids were little and and so you know you just have to adjust and don't feel bad about being interrupted but you know just because I was interrupted as a mother by my kids didn't mean I quit spending time with the Lord you know I just keep pushing through keep pushing through but as much as you can't get that quiet time I remember Joyce Meyer said her kids would complain that she would go in a room and spend time alone with the Lord and she said she finally told them you better be glad I'm spending time with the Lord because I'm a much better mother because I'm spending time with the Lord I love that number 4 if you miss a day don't get under condemnation remember this is not about legalism it's about growing in the Lord amen it's about developing spiritual habits that help you grow a friend that a Bible teacher of mine said that she said what keeps me consistent and spending time with the Lord is knowing that God wants to spend time with me in that good and she said he misses me when I'm not there and I miss him when I don't do it another thing to remember is this number 5 sometimes you just have to fight through the drudgery of maybe feeling like you're not making progress or maybe you're just so sleepy that day you read a chapter and you think did I just read that chapter because that happens to me sometime and then I go back and reread it again but you know sometimes you just don't feel like you're comprehending or you sieving but just be willing to keep reading and worshiping God anyway because what's happening is you are storing up the Word of God in your heart and it's like a seed and you're planning it in your spirit and it is going to sprout a major harvest in your life I tell you my dad set it off and put the Word of God in you when you don't need it and when you do need it it will come up out of you you're planting seeds of hope and faith in your heart sometimes when I feel like just tired or it's just become routine I I like to change my environment and read in a different place in my home and that sometimes it just refreshes me to do that or sometimes I just change up my whole plan of reading and really that brings us to the next point is be willing to mix it up and be flexible and sensitive to the Holy Spirit because once you form a habit listen to this once you form a habit you don't have to do the same thing every day you really don't you can follow the Holy Spirit I mean there have been times when the Lord just had me reading Matthew Mark Luke and John Matthew Mark Luke and John and I just did that until I felt released and there have been times when I just read in the Psalms or or just read certain books in the Bible and I would just read the book of James over and over until I felt like it's time to move on so learn to follow the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit knows what you need but in order just to get a good working knowledge of the word it's good to read through the Bible at least once you know just to get a good idea of what the Bible is all about so you can be flexible one day you may just feel like worshiping today one day you may feel like I just really need to declare the Word of God over myself and my family but you see how you can just there's so many ways and things that you can do is you spend time with the Lord number seven keep a journal with you now I'm not a person that journals every day but when the Lord speaks to me I journal and when I'm praying about certain things I will put down what I'm praying about and and I can just I have Journal after Journal where I can see how God answered my prayers or when somebody gave me a prophecy or an encouraging word I write things down when you're reading and God just popped something to you you know you need to write those things down and meditate on that because he's speaking to you amen another idea is to get a daily devotional because they're so but anyway we'll just keep going okay the other thing is to get let's start over there other things get a daily devotional and just use it as a supplemental reading to your Bible reading because there's so many good ones out there you know Joe has some great devotional I used to read start your day right with Joyce Meyer right now I'm just stuck on Jesus calling does anybody read Jesus calling it's so powerful and it reminds you the reason I think I'm stuck on it because it reminds me every day that it's what I'm doing by reading and spending time with the Lord it's making a difference in my life and it just gives me hope and encouragement number nine is make the most of the opportunities that you have to grow let me tell you something sometimes you will not grow unless you plan to grow and excuse me and growth doesn't just happen you have to be really intentional about it and so what I'm talking about is there there are ways probably you could reorganize your days in order to get some spiritual growth into your life for instance you know having good worship CDs or good teaching tapes in your in your car when you're doing drive time we in Houston we drive a lot and you know you can get a whole message in you by the time you get to work and you're so pumped up and full full of faith or you can worship God the whole way or you can pray the whole way one thing I love to do is when I'm putting on my makeup I listen to podcast of preaching and teaching and that's so powerful 20 minutes you know of the Word of God supplementing what I already read in the Bible and you just you'll look back and you'll think man I'm throwing so much I'm learning so much have a good book to read when you're when you have breaks or downtown just those are just some ideas pray while you're in the car I mention that but you'll be surprised how much you grow the last thing is this evaluate your priorities on a or basis you said well what does that have to do with this Lisa because sometimes we let this time slip and we get so busy doing a lot of good things but they're not the things that God called us to do and so if you find yourself slipping in your time with the Lord I like to say it this way if you're too busy for the test spend time with the Lord then you're too busy and so sometimes you just have to stop and say you know why don't I have time with the Lord why am I so busy am i doing a lot of stuff or am i sticking to what God called me to do and I know I have to do this often and I just remind myself my priorities what does God call me to do at least call me to be a wife he's called me to be a mother and he's called me to be a pastor and preacher and if I will stay within that realm if I will focus on those things then my life stays in balance and it means sometimes I have to say no to certain things it means I have to you know not do some things that I'd like to do but when I stay in that realm I stay more sane and balanced and less stressed and I always have time with the Lord and so it's just good to just look at your schedule and say you know am i doing what God has called me to do or have I sort of diluted diluted my time and my energy you know what can I stop that would give me more time how much less TV could I watch to spend more time with the Lord you know just think think about things like that because it's so important spending time with Jesus it is your sustenance it's your daily bread it's your manna that is a fresh word every day to you I think about Elijah if you read in the book of first Kings chapter 19 Jezebel was seeking to kill the prophet Elijah now Elijah had just performed this great miracle and got it moved through him greatly but it made the Queen Jezebel mad and she basically said to him I am gonna kill you by a certain time well he got so afraid the Bible says the Prophet Oh late Elijah was afraid and he ran for his life and he ran to a certain city and then he began to go into the wilderness and when he got into the wilderness he was so tired he set under a juniper tree and said God I just want to die just let me die he was just worn out he was exhausted I mean he had been going and going for the Lord and now he had all this persecution and so he laid down and he slept for a while and then an angel woke him up and said I want you to eat and there was food made for him and so he ate and he ate and then you laid back down and he went to sleep again and the angel woke him up again and said you need to eat again and the Bible says that he ate that food and he got up and he went on the strength of that food for forty days and forty nights isn't that amazing listen I just likened to that to the the food of the Word of God - spending time with God if you will spend time with God listen he will impart into you he will sustain you and whatever you get from the Lord you will go on that word for days and days on end you may feel like you want to die you may feel so discouraged you may think god I cannot make it one more day but you get in the presence of God and God begins to minister to you and all of us in it's like okay god I'm ready to go I'm ready to go it is your sustenance it is your food it is your bread you know I'm gonna close with this I asked the four men that help us here Pastor Jeremy pastor Eric my brother Paul and pastor Nick just what they did I'm gonna tell all pastor Jeremy what you tell me anyway what they did every morning and I just want you to see the variety of what they do I sort of told you what we do and what I do but anyway pastor Nick Nelson told me this he said he said I read in fact less they put it on your less I put it on your notes I think but he said he reads from the the New Living Translation and amplified those are his favorite versions that he gets his coffee his worship music Bible and journal and he reads for twenty or thirty minutes and then he said I journal everything that popped up to me and he said I spend anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes talking to Jesus no format' he said no religious talk necessary I like that he said I just talked to Jesus like I'm like he's my friend and he said when I run at work out her drive I always talk to Jesus and he said I find if I'm in a distraction-free space it's the best and I like this he said setting is so important to me and he said I have to switch it up and sometimes I just go walk by the lake and pray or I go for a run and I pray thought those were great suggestions Aaron Loup Chetta said he loves the NIV mostly and he also enjoys the message Bible and I thought this was interesting he said I only read a few scriptures and then I spend time meditating on those scriptures prayerful reflection on just a few scriptures is most helpful for me and he says don't overcomplicate it that's good innit devotional time is not a checklist of things we should do to please God I cannot emphasize that enough you are not doing this to please God you are doing it to help yourself you are doing it to grow in the Lord yes God is pleased when you spend time with him but you are not doing it because it's a religious ritual you're doing it to get to know the Lord amen it's a time of him revealing his character and his will for our lives knowing him is what changes us don't compare your devotional time to that of other believers Amen I remember I told you my dad used to say I never tell people I never answer people when they say how long do you pray because he said if I tell him some of them will say well you don't pray long enough and he said then other people may say well I don't pray long enough but we don't have to compare our lives to anybody else remember that great things are happening on the side of you when you are having devotional time even if it doesn't feel like it and that's what I was talking about fight through the drudgery geremy Marone said this he likes a new American Standard and the English standard version my daughter really likes that version too the ESV he said I spend a few minutes reading the Bible and then I like to pray at times I worship with music but mostly sit and talk to Jesus I find the more time I spend reading the Bible the more it becomes study and not just sitting with him I like that you know there's a time to study but on a daily basis just just be refreshed and sit with the Lord and learn from him when you want to study do a study listen don't overthink it keep it simple it's not about the quality of time it's about the quantity it's not about the quantity of time it's about the quality and one verse can go a long way that's good listen as much as you speak start with five or ten minutes we talked about had a few minutes each day and you'll grow to love this time more and more I mean you will fall in love with Jesus you will fall in love with the Word of God doctor I said that not him I just wanted you to know I wasn't adding to what he said doctor my brother Paul Osteen said he likes to NIV for his daily reading he has a practice of spending the first few minutes of every day quiet reflective grateful mindful of God's presence in his life I read my Bible for a few minutes and then I start the day with prayer asking God and I just I wanted you to hear what he asked out for cuz I love this that I'd be sensitive to his voice and his leading that I would have a heart of kindness and compassion that I would see people as he sees them and the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart would be pleasing to him and that he would be my peace protection provision and strength isn't that powerful he said I didn't pray for all the other things I'm concerned about this usually takes me 20 to 30 minutes but he said when I start my day mindful of God my day goes much better he said make it a habit I love this in other words it is odd if I don't spend time with the Lord in the morning it's the exception the rule if these thing if things seems stale or dollar monotonous mix it up get a daily devotion walk and pray don't get into a rut change things when you feel like it's time to he said I love to like walk by the Bayou that overflowed near his house and see nature and the sky and talk to God as I walk so I just thought that would help you I always loved to see what other people do but like someone said don't compare yourself to them I'm just giving it to you as suggestions and ideas so it will help you did that help you sound tonight well a men I appreciate that so much let's bow our heads for just a moment that I'm gonna ask Pastor Jeremy to come and I want to talk to those of you here and those of you are watching and I'm just thinking about my friend who said that she made a determined commitment to spend time with the Lord and maybe that's something you need to do tonight you say at least I really haven't done this and and so tonight on this night what is the date September 17th 18th September 18th as I said and you say I'm gonna make that commitment I'm gonna make that vow then I'm gonna spend at least five to ten minutes with the Lord every day write it down this day if that's you everybody with your head cutting your eyes down raise your hand right now that you're going to make that commitment that valium in you can put your hands back down and then those of you who are watching I know God sees your hand father help him in the name of Jesus to just grow in you and to realize how much you love them and to enjoy their time with you we thank you that when they look back in a year from now on this date they will see how much they have grown spiritually and how close they are to you bless them father open the Word of God to their spirits give them a spirit of wisdom and revelation of who you really are father and who they are in Christ Jesus and everybody said Amen pastor Jeremy vassilisa can we give one more hand the pastor Lisa comments we appreciate you so much pastor Lisa and all that you share with us we just want to say we love you thank you so much for tuning in tonight all of you online or for those being here tonight father we love you we thank you for your word thank you for speaking to us and father may we have the opportunity just to dive in with you this week and connect with you in the place of prayer and reading your word in Jesus name and everybody said amen we love you right back here next week we will be right back and Pastor Lisa will finish this series that she's doing on encountering God through the Bible thank you

Channel: LisaOsteenComes

Views: 34,568

Rating: 4.802403 out of 5

Keywords: lisa, osteen, comes, hope, bible, biblestudy, preaching, sermon

Id: bWxn_V1ymac

Length: 43min 3sec (2583 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 16 2017