Title: The Necessity of Daily Praying and Reading the Bible 
Meta:As the believer daily renews their mind in the Scriptures, and in prayer they cast themselves upon the Lord - they will walk in purity. When you find a struggling believer and ask them about their prayer life and time in the Word, they will tend to respond by acknowledging it is lacking.  When we read and believe the Gospel truths in the Bible, it will affect how we live.
Tags: Bible,prayer,believer,growth

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So, I want to address something tonight...

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This is not anything that anybody has sent in.

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Something that...

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I feel like I just would like to have us discuss and think about tonight.

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I think one of the pastoral ... dilemmas ...

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I just remember John MacArthur saying

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that he felt like one of the most difficult aspects of pastoring was the fact

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that the people that he is teaching don't always, in fact very often,

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are not living up to the truth that he teaches.

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And he described that as being one of the greatest frustrations of pastoring.

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And ... as elders, you know, we get together, and we have elders' meetings,

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and we're constantly evaluating the condition of the flock.

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And we think about people, individuals.

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We have lists.

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We often times can go down through either before or during the elders' meetings,

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where we hear about people's lives.

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There's all manner of channels of communication today.

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You got all sorts of people, and voices,

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and there's social media, and things happen,

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and we're just ... we're watching, and seeking to shepherd the flock.

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We want holiness, and we want to see health in the church.

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And...

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Honestly, there is regularly something

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that, as pastors, is grieving in the church.

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And often times it's the kinds of things that...

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You just think, we think:

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It ought to be obvious, that this isn't good.

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It ought to be obvious, that this is not healthy Christianity.

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And, you know, thinking about that,

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and thinking about, sometimes, the immaturity that we see...

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I think one of the things that's really obvious is:

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There is a connection back to our walk with the Lord.

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And there is a connection with our closeness to Him.

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And there is a connection with the time that we spend with Him.

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And there is...

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The truth is, that as Christians, Scripture says

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that we're not under law, we're under grace.

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That doesn't mean that there...

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That doesn't mean that there aren't commandments.

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That doesn't mean that there isn't instruction.

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That doesn't mean that we don't have epistle after epistle after epistle of

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commandments and instruction and principles

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that are laid down in scripture for our life.

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But the thing is...

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I think it's safe to say this.

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Maybe somebody else has said it exactly how I'm gonna say it.

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I don't know, but...

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I think if we think about it and if we were to say something like:

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Christianity is not primarily a list of rules.

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It's primarily about relationship.

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There may even be cliché sayings that are similar to that... I don't know. But...

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We don't want to press that so far that we miss the fact that

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there are lots of commandments and instruction given to us in Scripture.

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But can anybody think of a passage that might lend itself to the fact

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that eternal life is far more about relationship than it is about rules?

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There's really a classic text that defines for us what eternal life is.

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This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

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Exactly.

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There is a knowing of God that goes with that.

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Now, obviously, as we know God, and as we fellowship with God,

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the desire, like we looked at on Sunday, should be perfect as God is perfect,

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merciful as God is merciful.

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It's the new man that's created, really, in this image of God:

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righteousness, true righteousness, holiness.

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And so, really, even when we think about the rules and the regulations,

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commandments, instruction, principles of Scripture...

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They're all about conforming.

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It's walking with God,

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and, as we see Him, and behold Him,

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there is a conforming into His image.

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That's really what it is all about.

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It's communing with Him.

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It's fellowshipping with Him.

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And it's us as we do it... becoming like Him.

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You know what Scripture says:

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You want to be a fool? Hang around fools.

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There is a reality that we want to avoid corrupt companionship,

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or communication.

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It corrupts good manners.

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There is a reality that we have a tendency,

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by what we surround ourselves with or who we surround ourselves with,

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we tend to become like those we're around.

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You want to be wise? You walk with the wise.

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But even more than that there is a supernatural principle

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that the more we're in the presence of God like Moses, the more our face glows.

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And, that being the case...

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My wife and I were talking earlier today,

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and we were talking about this very thing, about...

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the Lord ... Communing with the Lord is obviously the key to deepening...

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to deepening godliness,

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and to deepening maturity,

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and to deepening Christ-likeness.

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There is no question.

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My wife said well, you know, I'm gonna jump on my soapbox here and say

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that it comes back to Scripture and to prayer.

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And I said something like: Yeah, that's obvious.

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And she said: Oh, I don't know that it is.

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And I thought... And I thought, you know what?

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It's obvious to me.

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But I think she is right.

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I'm not sure that it's obvious to lots of people.

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And maybe especially to young believers it needs to be emphasized.

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Because maybe it's not so obvious as it ought to be.

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I watch some people flounder in sin, sputter...

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I watch some people who make professions...

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Somebody else comes along, maybe five years later...

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They make a profession.

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They outrun this guy that is five years older than they are in the Lord.

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That kind of thing happens. People pass each other up.

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And I think if we think about it:

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What is there to Scripture?

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What is there to prayer?

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What can we find in Scripture itself that speaks to these things?

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As far as maturity,

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as far as promise,

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as far as where we will be spiritually

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if we're applying these things to our lives.

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Look, here is the reality:

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There is this thing about every single individual in the room.

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There is our track record.

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In other words: God keeps a book of remembrance.

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From the time you profess to be a believer until this day.

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There is a reality.

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There is a record about what your prayer life looks like.

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And there is a reality to how much of your life you've devoted to Scripture,

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to meditating therein,

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to memorizing,

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to being in the Word,

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in the Word and prayer.

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And let's think about the dynamics of both of those things.

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Prayer: we're speaking to the Lord.

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That's where we're communing with Him.

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That's where we talk to Him.

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That's where we worship in prayer.

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We confess our sins in prayer.

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There's supplication, we're asking for things.

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There's intercession, we go and ask things for other people.

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Those are some essential components.

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We're talking to Him. We speak.

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That's what prayer's all about.

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Extremely biblical, you know that.

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We're gonna look at some of those texts in Scripture.

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The Word, that's where we go to hear Him speak.

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You see, when we have communication with one another,

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we talk back and forth.

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Back and forth. Back and forth.

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I was just thinking today about a certain situation.

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I don't know how you are, maybe if you don't like to talk at all,

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maybe you're very comfortable

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if you get in a conversation that really isn't a conversation,

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it's basically hearing the other person talk.

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There is no exchange.

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You ever talked to somebody like that, they basically dominate the whole thing.

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They wanna talk the whole time.

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But that's not the relationship that God wants with us.

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If there's a healthy relationship...

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Often, when I do pre-marriage counseling,

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I want to know about the communication.

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Like, I typically ask a couple:

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When you take a ride in the car for twenty minutes,

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give me a percentage of time, or

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if you sat down and had coffee with each other for an hour,

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give me a percentage of the time that you talk and that you talk.

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Because you can tell things.

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You can tell things about the communication

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that's gonna take place or not take place when they get married.

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It's typically you would say: fifty-fifty.

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That's pretty healthy, that's pretty good.

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You know...

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John MacArthur has very funny things to say

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about how much women talk over against how much men talk.

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And you know what?

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Typically there's probably something to that that on average women talk more than men.

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But it's interesting.

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When I do pre-marriage counseling, it's surprising,

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I do get a number of fifty-fifties.

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Anyways, I say that because that is what the Scripture is all about.

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The Scripture is us hearing from God.

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The prayer is us talking to God.

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And that's the communication.

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We read in 1st John about fellowship. Fellowship.

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Brethren, I'll tell you this:

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Fellowship: There is no way that whatever kind of experiences we may look for...

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There just simply is not going to be fellowship,

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unless there is this back and forth communication,

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where we speak in prayer...

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By the way: God desires that.

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... and then we go into the Word.

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And God desires that.

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There are texts, probably they're coming to your mind,

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that, where we can prove both of those.

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But here is the reality:

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Each one of your lives,

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there is a testimony that could be brought out,

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if all the facts were known, if all the truth was known,

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if, what God knows, was set on the table right now.

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And I had it, right here.

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Here's Pedro.

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Here's James.

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Here's Mario.

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Then OK, we're gonna put these in.

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And this basically is going to show you, the last six months of their life

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and we can see how much have they been in the Word?

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How much of their life has been devoted to prayer?

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Scripture actually says we should be devoted to prayer,

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or be constant in prayer.

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Man does not live by bread alone,

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but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

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We put these in. We're gonna look at our lives.

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What would it say?

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And here is what I know, brethren:

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That those who have been in the Word most,

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those who have been in prayer most,

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they likely are the ones that are running fastest.

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In fact, you can almost guarantee that,

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unless that time in prayer is just hypocritical,

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unless that time in the Word is just for the sake of study and attaining knowledge that puffs up.

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I mean there are people that professionally study the Word,

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and there are people that put on a good show like...

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I can think of Catholic priests

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and, you know, they bury themselves away in a monastery somewhere,

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and it's basically just a work of the flesh.

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But I'm talking about somebody who's walking before the Lord,

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and pouring themselves out in Scripture and in prayer.

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These are the people who are going to make the greatest strides in Christianity.

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These are the people that are going to outrun and surpass others.

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These are the people that are going to overcome.

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These are the people that are going to begin to resemble Christ all the more

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because as they're in His presence and beholding Him... That's transformational.

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Communing, back and forth...

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You can't get away from it.

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The reason the apostle Paul brings in that reality from the Old Testament,

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where Moses would go into the presence of the Lord, and commune with Him,

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and come out, and his face would glow...

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The very reason he brings that imagery into the New Testament

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is because there is a spiritual principle that he is wanting to drive home to you and me

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in the New Testament church.

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And it's the same reality

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that if you spend time in the presence of God something happens.

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And I'm concerned at this point, that I have a feeling,

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that those individuals or groups of individuals

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that produce the greatest size in groans in the elders, in our elders' meetings...

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I suspect, if we brought out their record, and we stuck it in the machine, it'd be like...

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No wonder!

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No wonder!

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He sleeps in late.

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He prioritizes everything else in his life above and beyond it.

248
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He'll talk about prayer.

249
00:18:09,122 --> 00:18:12,703
She'll talk about being in the Word.

250
00:18:12,704 --> 00:18:14,567
They talk a good talk.

251
00:18:14,567 --> 00:18:16,989
The can talk certain doctrines.

252
00:18:16,989 --> 00:18:18,634
But the reality is:

253
00:18:18,634 --> 00:18:19,719
They're lazy.

254
00:18:19,719 --> 00:18:20,849
They sleep in.

255
00:18:20,849 --> 00:18:23,300
They make other things a priority.

256
00:18:23,300 --> 00:18:28,467
They'll eat... They don't live as though man doesn't live by bread alone.

257
00:18:28,467 --> 00:18:33,197
They live as though man does live only by bread alone.

258
00:18:33,198 --> 00:18:36,040
And it's not a priority to be in the Word.

259
00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:38,363
The time that's in it doesn't go deep.

260
00:18:38,363 --> 00:18:40,121
There's no memorization.

261
00:18:40,121 --> 00:18:41,195
They little know it.

262
00:18:41,195 --> 00:18:42,513
It's little on their lips.

263
00:18:42,513 --> 00:18:45,160
It's little applied to their life.

264
00:18:45,161 --> 00:18:51,993
When you look at their prayer life, it's these kind of quick little things,

265
00:18:51,993 --> 00:18:53,613
these little deals.

266
00:18:53,613 --> 00:18:56,392
Yes, it's there when there's crisis.

267
00:18:56,392 --> 00:18:59,130
Yes, it's there when there is need.

268
00:18:59,130 --> 00:19:03,742
Yes, it's there when they're lonely, and they want a spouse.

269
00:19:03,742 --> 00:19:05,573
But, other than that?

270
00:19:05,573 --> 00:19:06,867
They don't pray for other people.

271
00:19:06,867 --> 00:19:07,969
They're not confessing.

272
00:19:07,969 --> 00:19:11,558
They're not just enjoying to be in the presence of God.

273
00:19:11,558 --> 00:19:16,463
The prayer is little, it's far between, it's mechanical.

274
00:19:16,463 --> 00:19:20,624
You see, brethren, why do I...?

275
00:19:20,624 --> 00:19:23,794
“How can you just say that?” “Is he just being judgmental?”

276
00:19:23,794 --> 00:19:27,352
I can say it because of this, brethren:

277
00:19:27,353 --> 00:19:30,535
Because if we look at the Word,

278
00:19:30,536 --> 00:19:37,736
there are promises about what's going to happen to the life of an individual when...

279
00:19:39,936 --> 00:19:51,226
... when we're ... devoting our lives to these two different things.

280
00:19:56,067 --> 00:20:01,527
Just open your Bibles to Luke 6:12.

281
00:20:06,856 --> 00:20:11,959
This is the example of our Lord Jesus Christ.

282
00:20:11,959 --> 00:20:14,847
We want to deal with prayer first.

283
00:20:17,537 --> 00:20:26,606
In Luke 6:12 ... In these days he, Jesus, went out to the mountain to pray,

284
00:20:26,607 --> 00:20:32,756
and all night he continued in prayer to God.

285
00:20:35,182 --> 00:20:37,796
Brethren, let's just start right here.

286
00:20:40,279 --> 00:20:50,210
I know Christian men and women who, when we have weeks of prayer and fasting,

287
00:20:50,211 --> 00:20:54,366
they seriously fast.

288
00:20:54,367 --> 00:20:59,293
Or they'll spend special seasons in prayer.

289
00:20:59,294 --> 00:21:08,497
They'll miss other things in life for the sake of prayer.

290
00:21:08,498 --> 00:21:10,902
Jesus went the whole night.

291
00:21:13,090 --> 00:21:16,939
This is crucial.

292
00:21:16,940 --> 00:21:24,794
Look, the whole point about growing in this life, it's not...

293
00:21:24,794 --> 00:21:25,844
This is what I have...

294
00:21:25,844 --> 00:21:32,774
since we've restarted these Bible studies, what I've been trying to stress.

295
00:21:32,774 --> 00:21:39,035
Look, religion... You can find lots of religions that are all built on rules.

296
00:21:39,035 --> 00:21:46,153
But this really is Christianity, true religion.

297
00:21:46,153 --> 00:21:52,445
It is built on an ever deepening relationship with God.

298
00:21:52,445 --> 00:22:00,352
And you simply cannot get deep with God if all you're trying to do

299
00:22:00,352 --> 00:22:05,757
is fit God into the little cracks and crevices of your life.

300
00:22:05,757 --> 00:22:09,763
You can't. You'll never get deep with Him.

301
00:22:09,764 --> 00:22:13,462
You know what? There's lots of good intention.

302
00:22:13,463 --> 00:22:16,715
Well, I hope to get in the Word today.

303
00:22:16,715 --> 00:22:21,297
I hope to spend some time in quality prayer.

304
00:22:21,297 --> 00:22:24,065
But you know what? You don't prioritize it.

305
00:22:24,065 --> 00:22:27,437
You don't do... If you...

306
00:22:27,437 --> 00:22:30,109
I know there are those who do.

307
00:22:30,109 --> 00:22:31,909
But I'm talking about those

308
00:22:31,909 --> 00:22:38,108
who just simply try to fit God into the cracks and the corners of their lives.

309
00:22:38,108 --> 00:22:50,019
Where it's not something that takes the primary, the first place.

310
00:22:50,020 --> 00:22:51,572
Other things do.

311
00:22:51,572 --> 00:22:54,513
The life ist not prioritized right.

312
00:22:54,513 --> 00:22:59,317
And so, what happens is: Though your intention be ever so good,

313
00:22:59,318 --> 00:23:03,047
you're going to fit God in where it's convenient.

314
00:23:03,047 --> 00:23:06,771
But then it never becomes convenient.

315
00:23:06,772 --> 00:23:08,130
And you know what you end up?

316
00:23:08,130 --> 00:23:10,870
You end up cold. You end up dry.

317
00:23:10,870 --> 00:23:15,421
You end up with no spiritual power to resist sin.

318
00:23:15,421 --> 00:23:18,571
And you fall. You fail. You flop.

319
00:23:18,571 --> 00:23:20,476
And you act worldly.

320
00:23:20,476 --> 00:23:24,302
And it's noticeable, and the elders see it,

321
00:23:24,302 --> 00:23:27,746
and we talk in a meeting, and we sigh, and we groan

322
00:23:27,746 --> 00:23:32,534
over the condition of people who embrace wordliness,

323
00:23:32,534 --> 00:23:36,552
or carnality, or immaturity.

324
00:23:36,552 --> 00:23:38,352
And it's like: Why?

325
00:23:38,353 --> 00:23:42,310
And, brethren, you can trace it right back to this kind of thing.

326
00:23:42,310 --> 00:23:46,658
The lives of those who are walking close to the Lord,

327
00:23:46,658 --> 00:23:49,880
it's apparent, it comes out.

328
00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:52,203
It doesn't mean that everything they do

329
00:23:52,203 --> 00:23:54,373
is always going to be exactly what the elders would do,

330
00:23:54,373 --> 00:24:00,985
or that we would agree that life, and every choice that they make.

331
00:24:00,985 --> 00:24:06,943
But I tell you this: That life will be head and shoulders above the rest.

332
00:24:06,943 --> 00:24:10,387
There will be a marked difference.

333
00:24:10,387 --> 00:24:15,655
Just like there was a marked difference in Moses when he came down from the mount.

334
00:24:15,655 --> 00:24:21,998
Now listen: You have to recognize that Paul is using that Old Testament illustration

335
00:24:21,998 --> 00:24:32,706
because there is a reality in it for us if we're spending time viewing the glory of the Lord.

336
00:24:32,706 --> 00:24:34,567
That reality is there.

337
00:24:34,568 --> 00:24:39,529
And just like if you would have stood Moses next to the guy that hadn't been up on the mountain,

338
00:24:39,529 --> 00:24:41,608
you'd see a big difference.

339
00:24:41,608 --> 00:24:46,594
And you see: It's by degrees.

340
00:24:46,595 --> 00:24:49,575
It's kind of like the thermometer: You can turn on the refrigerator,

341
00:24:49,575 --> 00:24:52,337
and you stick your hand in there, and you don't feel it right off.

342
00:24:52,337 --> 00:24:54,445
But I tell you this:

343
00:24:54,446 --> 00:24:59,370
That brother, that sister who are in the word of God faithfully every single day,

344
00:24:59,370 --> 00:25:05,801
and they're setting aside some of the quality best time in their day

345
00:25:05,801 --> 00:25:09,183
to talk to the Lord, and commune with the Lord...

346
00:25:09,183 --> 00:25:12,300
I can tell you this, just like turning that refrigerator on:

347
00:25:12,300 --> 00:25:13,611
When you first turned it on

348
00:25:13,611 --> 00:25:18,311
the temperature inside and outside were the same.

349
00:25:18,312 --> 00:25:22,759
If you come back and check one minute later it doesn't feel a whole lot different.

350
00:25:22,759 --> 00:25:23,705
But you know what?

351
00:25:23,705 --> 00:25:26,037
Come back a day or two later.

352
00:25:26,037 --> 00:25:31,511
This is how when you come back a month later, six months later, twelve months later...

353
00:25:31,511 --> 00:25:37,989
And you beginn to look at the life of the person that is spending all this quality time,

354
00:25:37,990 --> 00:25:43,932
and suddenly you recognize there is a glow on that person's life that the others don't have,

355
00:25:43,932 --> 00:25:46,863
the people who treat this with...

356
00:25:49,733 --> 00:25:51,374
Well, you know how they treat it.

357
00:25:51,374 --> 00:25:55,805
I was gonna say a word like "disdain", but...

358
00:25:55,806 --> 00:26:00,954
It's just ignored. It's just not prioritized.

359
00:26:00,954 --> 00:26:04,854
Here is the Lord Jesus.

360
00:26:04,855 --> 00:26:07,402
His bed's empty.

361
00:26:07,403 --> 00:26:15,334
The old evangelical anglican John Berridge said: All decays begin in the closet;

362
00:26:15,334 --> 00:26:20,927
no heart thrives without much secret converse with God,

363
00:26:20,927 --> 00:26:27,169
and, listen to this, nothing will make amends for the want of it.

364
00:26:29,297 --> 00:26:33,577
Listen, here is the reality:

365
00:26:33,578 --> 00:26:40,596
Those brothers and sisters that have a time in their day

366
00:26:40,596 --> 00:26:46,568
that's specifically dedicated to communing with the Lord,

367
00:26:46,569 --> 00:26:50,946
they have to pass up other things.

368
00:26:50,946 --> 00:26:55,595
You see the people that don't have that, they don't pass those same things up.

369
00:26:55,595 --> 00:26:57,238
They indulge.

370
00:26:57,238 --> 00:26:59,538
They don't prioritize right.

371
00:26:59,538 --> 00:27:04,259
Prioritization is about what's first, and then what comes after.

372
00:27:04,259 --> 00:27:11,024
It's about: What is most important in my life, and...

373
00:27:14,148 --> 00:27:21,250
I'm going to make sure that happens even if the other things don't happen.

374
00:27:21,251 --> 00:27:25,238
And you know how it was with Whitefield: 10 p.m. every evening.

375
00:27:25,238 --> 00:27:28,895
Didn't matter who he was speaking to.

376
00:27:28,896 --> 00:27:30,577
Very easy to justify.

377
00:27:30,577 --> 00:27:35,369
“Oh well, you know, I'm having a good conversation with brother so-and-so...”

378
00:27:35,369 --> 00:27:37,167
Nope, no matter who he was speaking to...

379
00:27:37,167 --> 00:27:41,897
It was said, though he was speaking to the queen of England,

380
00:27:41,898 --> 00:27:45,483
he would depart at ten o'clock

381
00:27:45,484 --> 00:27:48,804
to speak to the King of the universe.

382
00:27:51,543 --> 00:27:53,353
Can you imagine the scene?

383
00:27:53,353 --> 00:27:57,680
I've often thought... Maybe you heard me say this before:

384
00:27:57,680 --> 00:28:04,331
I've thought that we talk about the empty tomb, and rightly so.

385
00:28:04,331 --> 00:28:06,641
He's risen. That's huge.

386
00:28:06,641 --> 00:28:10,104
But I've often thought about the empty bed.

387
00:28:10,105 --> 00:28:13,363
Because that tells me something about the prayer life.

388
00:28:13,364 --> 00:28:16,326
The empty bed.

389
00:28:16,327 --> 00:28:18,606
Jesus...

390
00:28:18,607 --> 00:28:22,477
Jesus prioritized

391
00:28:22,477 --> 00:28:25,986
the need He had for His Father and the love that He had for His Father

392
00:28:25,986 --> 00:28:29,179
over and above sleep.

393
00:28:29,180 --> 00:28:31,976
That's what happened there.

394
00:28:31,977 --> 00:28:34,783
See, the problem is, brethren,

395
00:28:34,784 --> 00:28:38,026
we've too many people... They're okay,

396
00:28:38,026 --> 00:28:39,965
they would rather hear of God,

397
00:28:39,965 --> 00:28:41,320
they would rather hear about God,

398
00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:43,314
they would rather hear doctrine about God,

399
00:28:43,314 --> 00:28:45,996
sit in the preaching and listen,

400
00:28:45,997 --> 00:28:54,174
rather than actually speaking to God.

401
00:28:54,175 --> 00:28:56,556
Brethren, what do we call that?

402
00:28:56,556 --> 00:29:03,917
When a Christian has reluctance to dwell in God's presence?

403
00:29:03,918 --> 00:29:05,819
What is that?

404
00:29:11,456 --> 00:29:15,287
Let's talk about peace.

405
00:29:15,288 --> 00:29:22,047
James is at this text, I believe, in Philippians 4, let's look there.

406
00:29:22,048 --> 00:29:24,267
Peace.

407
00:29:24,268 --> 00:29:31,268
Scripture says that God will keep him in perfect peace

408
00:29:31,268 --> 00:29:33,869
who's mind is stayed on Him.

409
00:29:33,869 --> 00:29:36,488
You see, this comes back to prayer life.

410
00:29:36,488 --> 00:29:42,412
That's reiterated for us here in Philippians 4: 6 and 7.

411
00:29:42,413 --> 00:29:43,992
But you think about this:

412
00:29:43,992 --> 00:29:46,331
People who have anxiety all the time,

413
00:29:46,331 --> 00:29:48,101
people who can't rest,

414
00:29:48,101 --> 00:29:49,282
people who are troubled,

415
00:29:49,282 --> 00:29:50,607
people who are disturbed,

416
00:29:50,607 --> 00:29:54,261
people... Brethren,

417
00:29:54,262 --> 00:29:57,563
Scripture says if our mind is stayed on Him,

418
00:29:57,563 --> 00:29:59,602
if God is being central,

419
00:29:59,602 --> 00:30:01,292
if God is the focus,

420
00:30:01,292 --> 00:30:02,354
if we're going to Him,

421
00:30:02,354 --> 00:30:03,489
we're living in His presence,

422
00:30:03,489 --> 00:30:04,702
we're communing with Him,

423
00:30:04,702 --> 00:30:06,443
we're setting aside time.

424
00:30:06,443 --> 00:30:08,162
Listen to this:

425
00:30:08,163 --> 00:30:15,056
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication

426
00:30:15,056 --> 00:30:18,714
with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

427
00:30:18,714 --> 00:30:24,412
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

428
00:30:24,412 --> 00:30:29,974
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

429
00:30:29,975 --> 00:30:32,007
It says: in everything.

430
00:30:32,007 --> 00:30:35,053
Make sure, you see that.

431
00:30:35,054 --> 00:30:40,138
One of the main reasons that certain people don't stay devoted to prayer

432
00:30:40,138 --> 00:30:44,618
or constant in prayer, as they ought,

433
00:30:44,619 --> 00:30:49,710
is because they don't commune with God about everything.

434
00:30:49,711 --> 00:30:52,116
Müller said...

435
00:30:52,117 --> 00:30:56,195
Back in those days I believe they had fountain pens,

436
00:30:56,196 --> 00:30:58,646
and you had to fill them.

437
00:30:58,647 --> 00:31:01,505
And he said if there is something in his life worth doing,

438
00:31:01,505 --> 00:31:04,855
it's worth communicating to God about.

439
00:31:04,855 --> 00:31:08,835
One of the reasons that people don't pray as they ought

440
00:31:08,835 --> 00:31:12,427
is because we have a lot of people who are wired to pray

441
00:31:12,427 --> 00:31:16,868
only when the crisis comes.

442
00:31:16,869 --> 00:31:20,646
Brethren,

443
00:31:20,647 --> 00:31:24,097
have you ever read in the Proverbs:

444
00:31:24,097 --> 00:31:29,703
The prayer of the upright is God's delight.

445
00:31:29,704 --> 00:31:34,901
And you can take that reality over to the Song of Solomon.

446
00:31:34,902 --> 00:31:38,280
Just turn to the Song of Solomon.

447
00:31:47,490 --> 00:31:51,195
Here we have a picture of Christ and His church.

448
00:31:55,093 --> 00:31:59,211
Somebody read Song of Solomon 2:10!

449
00:31:59,212 --> 00:32:05,146
My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my beautiful one,

450
00:32:05,146 --> 00:32:10,624
and come away, for behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone.

451
00:32:10,624 --> 00:32:12,429
How about verse 13?

452
00:32:12,429 --> 00:32:18,295
The fig tree ripens its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance.

453
00:32:18,295 --> 00:32:22,444
Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.

454
00:32:22,444 --> 00:32:26,332
O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the crannies of the cliff,

455
00:32:26,332 --> 00:32:29,205
let me see your face, let me hear your voice...

456
00:32:29,205 --> 00:32:31,994
And so, there you have a picture of Christ and the church.

457
00:32:31,994 --> 00:32:34,864
Let me hear your voice,

458
00:32:34,864 --> 00:32:37,746
let me see your face.

459
00:32:49,785 --> 00:32:51,509
I told this story before:

460
00:32:51,509 --> 00:32:53,919
I remember when I worked at Miller Curtain...

461
00:32:53,919 --> 00:32:57,190
I just had this picture in my mind

462
00:32:57,190 --> 00:33:02,143
of one of the guys that worked there in the engineering department

463
00:33:02,144 --> 00:33:04,637
getting married

464
00:33:04,638 --> 00:33:06,556
and then coming to work with his sleeping bag

465
00:33:06,556 --> 00:33:09,188
and sleeping under his desk every day.

466
00:33:09,188 --> 00:33:11,078
You'd say: “What are you doing?”

467
00:33:11,078 --> 00:33:12,841
“You're married!”

468
00:33:12,841 --> 00:33:15,729
“Go home, man, go home to your wife!”

469
00:33:15,729 --> 00:33:20,218
“Go home and sleep in your bed at home!”

470
00:33:20,219 --> 00:33:23,502
You would say: The man's a fool to bring his sleeping bag.

471
00:33:23,502 --> 00:33:25,318
He just got married.

472
00:33:25,319 --> 00:33:27,288
His wife is at home waiting for him.

473
00:33:27,288 --> 00:33:29,440
He sleeps under his desk.

474
00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:36,922
You see, that's what's happening when you get professing Christians

475
00:33:36,922 --> 00:33:40,999
that just walk around and all their prayer is crisis praying.

476
00:33:40,999 --> 00:33:43,508
“O, I'm lonely! Give me a wife!”

477
00:33:43,508 --> 00:33:47,064
“O, I'm this, I'm that. Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme...”

478
00:33:47,064 --> 00:33:54,233
It's like you're missing something.

479
00:33:54,234 --> 00:33:58,501
It's like we have to go back to the starting point.

480
00:33:58,501 --> 00:34:03,640
If the prayer life is just some duty and some drudgery,

481
00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:08,516
I'm afraid you're not partaking of Christianity.

482
00:34:08,516 --> 00:34:13,315
I'm afraid you're partaking of something that is of your own creation.

483
00:34:13,315 --> 00:34:21,266
Because this eternal life, that we're talking about,

484
00:34:21,266 --> 00:34:24,424
is to know God and to know His Christ.

485
00:34:24,424 --> 00:34:27,743
Somebody read Song of Solomon 4:9!

486
00:34:33,224 --> 00:34:36,354
You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride;

487
00:34:36,354 --> 00:34:39,924
you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes,

488
00:34:39,924 --> 00:34:44,586
with one jewel of your necklace. How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!

489
00:34:44,586 --> 00:34:46,843
You have captivated me...

490
00:34:46,843 --> 00:34:49,323
And, of course, we could go on, we could go over to chapter 5,

491
00:34:49,323 --> 00:34:53,495
and, you know, the picture there of Christ coming to the door

492
00:34:53,495 --> 00:34:56,536
and He puts His hand to the latch, and it's locked,

493
00:34:56,536 --> 00:35:01,226
and He calls for His bride, and she delays.

494
00:35:01,227 --> 00:35:03,926
Why? She begins to think:

495
00:35:03,926 --> 00:35:05,616
“My feet are clean,

496
00:35:05,616 --> 00:35:06,823
and I'm already in bed,

497
00:35:06,823 --> 00:35:08,482
and if I get up...”

498
00:35:08,482 --> 00:35:14,443
And it's kind of like the Lord coming to us and calling us away in prayer...

499
00:35:14,444 --> 00:35:21,137
Brethren, I recognize that there is a discipline in prayer.

500
00:35:21,137 --> 00:35:25,604
But there is also gonna be a real sweetness as well.

501
00:35:25,604 --> 00:35:30,735
And those who walk in that, that sweetness,

502
00:35:30,735 --> 00:35:34,423
and they're going to the Lord, and they're communing with the Lord...

503
00:35:34,424 --> 00:35:36,127
It's His delight.

504
00:35:36,127 --> 00:35:38,588
The prayer of the upright is His delight.

505
00:35:38,588 --> 00:35:41,237
He longs to see our face.

506
00:35:41,237 --> 00:35:44,180
There's peace.

507
00:35:44,180 --> 00:35:47,119
We saw that from Philippians chapter 4:

508
00:35:47,119 --> 00:35:49,749
There is peace.

509
00:35:49,750 --> 00:35:56,348
How about this: Jeremiah 33:3

510
00:35:56,349 --> 00:35:58,839
Somebody read that!

511
00:36:03,581 --> 00:36:05,758
Call to me and I will answer you,

512
00:36:05,758 --> 00:36:09,359
and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.

513
00:36:13,199 --> 00:36:15,400
Do you hear what that's saying?

514
00:36:15,401 --> 00:36:18,270
It's kind of like Moses.

515
00:36:18,271 --> 00:36:24,454
You know what happened to Moses when he went into the tent of meeting,

516
00:36:24,455 --> 00:36:29,971
and that pillar came down, and settled right over the top?

517
00:36:29,972 --> 00:36:35,301
Or when he went up on mount Sinai, and God descended?

518
00:36:35,302 --> 00:36:39,760
Moses was brought into the inner counsels of God.

519
00:36:39,761 --> 00:36:41,003
You see, what's being said?

520
00:36:41,003 --> 00:36:48,157
If you call on me, there's secret things.

521
00:36:48,157 --> 00:36:58,230
There's a special, hidden, secret revelation that God...

522
00:36:58,231 --> 00:36:59,784
You know what happens?

523
00:36:59,784 --> 00:37:06,683
You begin to understand things about God that other people just don't understand.

524
00:37:06,684 --> 00:37:09,311
And I think that's part of it.

525
00:37:09,311 --> 00:37:13,955
I think that's part of it, where...

526
00:37:13,956 --> 00:37:20,173
Sometimes you look at people, and they're walking on another plane.

527
00:37:20,174 --> 00:37:23,616
They're walking on a plane like they don't really know God.

528
00:37:23,616 --> 00:37:28,076
Or they wouldn't do or say the things that they do or say.

529
00:37:28,076 --> 00:37:30,875
You're looking , you wonder...

530
00:37:33,653 --> 00:37:41,000
I'm saying this because I'm hoping that it produces an appetite.

531
00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:47,786
That you'd wanna... The peace of God is to be found.

532
00:37:47,786 --> 00:37:53,017
Great and hidden things are to be found.

533
00:37:53,018 --> 00:37:55,593
There is also a closeness.

534
00:37:55,593 --> 00:37:58,137
Brethren, think with me here:

535
00:37:58,137 --> 00:38:05,228
What did James say in James 4 about drawing close to God?

536
00:38:05,229 --> 00:38:08,970
If you draw close to Him...

537
00:38:08,970 --> 00:38:11,949
What does it say?

538
00:38:11,950 --> 00:38:16,249
Draw near to Him, and He will draw near to you.

539
00:38:16,249 --> 00:38:19,139
That's what James says.

540
00:38:19,140 --> 00:38:22,410
You see, it's this kind of thing where you draw near to Him,

541
00:38:22,410 --> 00:38:24,711
and He comes near to you.

542
00:38:24,711 --> 00:38:27,138
You say: What is that?

543
00:38:27,138 --> 00:38:32,396
I'm talking about your spiritual senses pick Him up.

544
00:38:32,396 --> 00:38:34,161
You say: Isn't He any near to all of us?

545
00:38:34,161 --> 00:38:37,101
Doesn't scripture say somewhere, He is not far from any of us?

546
00:38:37,101 --> 00:38:39,050
Yes.

547
00:38:39,051 --> 00:38:41,239
What does it mean for God to draw near?

548
00:38:41,239 --> 00:38:43,429
Isn't He everywhere all the time?

549
00:38:43,429 --> 00:38:44,337
Yes.

550
00:38:44,337 --> 00:38:57,561
To draw near means that your senses, your spiritual senses pick up His presence.

551
00:38:57,562 --> 00:39:01,233
He gives you ears to hear His voice,

552
00:39:01,233 --> 00:39:05,585
eyes to see His person,

553
00:39:05,586 --> 00:39:10,877
the ability to comprehend the hidden things and the secret things,

554
00:39:10,878 --> 00:39:15,514
...

555
00:39:15,514 --> 00:39:17,324
... and joy,

556
00:39:17,324 --> 00:39:18,214
and love.

557
00:39:18,214 --> 00:39:27,974
We read in scripture about the love of God being shed abroad in our hearts.

558
00:39:27,974 --> 00:39:30,072
This is something that the Spirit does.

559
00:39:30,072 --> 00:39:33,473
Or we think about the Spirit bearing witness.

560
00:39:33,473 --> 00:39:35,955
Brethren, there is a witness bearing,

561
00:39:35,955 --> 00:39:37,063
there is a love,

562
00:39:37,063 --> 00:39:38,249
there is a presence,

563
00:39:38,249 --> 00:39:39,845
there is a joy,

564
00:39:39,845 --> 00:39:40,799
there is...

565
00:39:40,799 --> 00:39:42,366
And I'll tell you this:

566
00:39:42,366 --> 00:39:45,413
When He comes close:

567
00:39:45,414 --> 00:39:48,614
There is a fear.

568
00:39:48,615 --> 00:39:51,029
And there is also:

569
00:39:51,030 --> 00:39:55,606
Something happens that you wanna protect.

570
00:39:55,607 --> 00:39:57,734
You don't wanna lose that.

571
00:39:57,734 --> 00:40:00,427
In other words once that happens, you want it to happen again.

572
00:40:00,427 --> 00:40:01,632
And again, and again.

573
00:40:01,632 --> 00:40:03,515
And if you really think that if

574
00:40:03,515 --> 00:40:07,205
I go and do this thing that I'm about ready to do

575
00:40:07,205 --> 00:40:10,824
and I lose that,

576
00:40:10,825 --> 00:40:13,445
then I don't wanna go do what I'm about to go do,

577
00:40:13,445 --> 00:40:18,705
because I want that more than the thing I'm about to go and do.

578
00:40:18,706 --> 00:40:19,705
You see, that's the thing.

579
00:40:19,705 --> 00:40:21,359
That's the thing that confounds me.

580
00:40:21,359 --> 00:40:25,016
I watch some Christians go do things, that I know,

581
00:40:25,016 --> 00:40:27,166
that's going to be grieving the Spirit.

582
00:40:27,166 --> 00:40:30,104
Why would they go do that?

583
00:40:30,105 --> 00:40:38,137
It's because they don't value communion with God more than that.

584
00:40:38,138 --> 00:40:42,270
And the reason that I suspect that they don't, is because

585
00:40:42,270 --> 00:40:47,857
it's foreign to them to draw near to God and have Him draw near to them.

586
00:40:47,857 --> 00:40:51,337
They don't know that in its fullness

587
00:40:51,337 --> 00:40:57,497
to where it prevents them from doing that thing that they do.

588
00:41:01,469 --> 00:41:03,072
Brethren,

589
00:41:09,073 --> 00:41:13,427
we're told to watch in prayer.

590
00:41:13,428 --> 00:41:15,770
Watch! Watch! Watch!

591
00:41:15,770 --> 00:41:24,009
You remember the Lord Jesus on the night that He was betrayed...

592
00:41:24,010 --> 00:41:27,874
They not only took the Lord's supper, he went out to the garden Gethsemane.

593
00:41:27,874 --> 00:41:33,074
And you remember, He told His disciples: Watch and pray!

594
00:41:33,074 --> 00:41:37,935
Watch and pray! That you not fall into temptation!

595
00:41:37,935 --> 00:41:41,492
Brethren, what in the world was happening out there that night?

596
00:41:41,492 --> 00:41:42,862
The devil was moving.

597
00:41:42,862 --> 00:41:45,121
The devil was seeking to sift Peter.

598
00:41:45,121 --> 00:41:47,262
The devil had entered into Judas.

599
00:41:47,262 --> 00:41:50,790
Jesus was under extreme turmoil.

600
00:41:50,790 --> 00:41:53,605
Things were happening in the spiritual realm.

601
00:41:53,605 --> 00:41:58,931
And Jesus says to all of us: Watch! Watch! Watch!

602
00:41:58,931 --> 00:42:02,022
Why? We have an enemy that is moving.

603
00:42:02,022 --> 00:42:07,101
We have an enemy that is seeking to devour.

604
00:42:07,101 --> 00:42:09,027
How do we watch?

605
00:42:09,027 --> 00:42:13,092
Brethren, we watch in prayer.

606
00:42:13,092 --> 00:42:15,337
We watch in prayer.

607
00:42:15,337 --> 00:42:17,650
Prayer makes us discerning.

608
00:42:17,650 --> 00:42:22,816
Prayer makes us sensitive to temptation.

609
00:42:22,816 --> 00:42:25,956
It makes us sensitive to demonic activity.

610
00:42:25,956 --> 00:42:28,417
It makes us sensitive to danger.

611
00:42:28,417 --> 00:42:30,728
That's why we're told,

612
00:42:30,728 --> 00:42:33,524
that's why those two words go together:

613
00:42:33,524 --> 00:42:36,364
Praying and watching.

614
00:42:36,364 --> 00:42:37,632
They go together.

615
00:42:37,632 --> 00:42:39,101
Watch and pray!

616
00:42:39,101 --> 00:42:42,589
Scripture says: Watch and pray!

617
00:42:42,590 --> 00:42:45,591
Let's turn to Ephesians 6:18.

618
00:42:45,591 --> 00:42:48,776
6:18 is about putting on the armor...

619
00:42:48,776 --> 00:42:51,246
Chapter 6 is about putting on the armor of God.

620
00:42:51,246 --> 00:42:54,787
When you get down to verse 18, you come to...

621
00:42:54,787 --> 00:42:59,426
all prayer it is, how it is in the KJV.

622
00:42:59,427 --> 00:43:03,918
I say it that way, because that's how it is in Pilgrim's Progress as well:

623
00:43:03,918 --> 00:43:05,307
All prayer.

624
00:43:05,307 --> 00:43:08,495
Does somebody read Ephesians 6:18?

625
00:43:14,745 --> 00:43:18,847
... praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.

626
00:43:18,847 --> 00:43:23,987
To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, ...

627
00:43:23,987 --> 00:43:26,866
Did you see this, did you hear that?

628
00:43:29,127 --> 00:43:33,147
How do you keep alert?

629
00:43:33,148 --> 00:43:36,458
How do you persevere?

630
00:43:36,459 --> 00:43:38,077
Through prayer.

631
00:43:38,077 --> 00:43:41,127
That's how you keep alert.

632
00:43:41,128 --> 00:43:43,648
Isn't it interesting?

633
00:43:43,649 --> 00:43:50,278
See, brethren, things happen when you talk to God.

634
00:43:50,279 --> 00:43:52,894
When you talk to Him,

635
00:43:55,753 --> 00:44:00,356
there is something that happens spiritually.

636
00:44:00,357 --> 00:44:03,972
And what this is a promise of

637
00:44:03,972 --> 00:44:11,803
is people who are sleeping in the church...

638
00:44:11,804 --> 00:44:13,768
Write it down!

639
00:44:13,769 --> 00:44:14,787
They're staying in bed.

640
00:44:14,787 --> 00:44:17,771
They're not getting up in the morning and praying.

641
00:44:17,772 --> 00:44:19,815
They may purpose to pray in the evenings.

642
00:44:19,815 --> 00:44:21,362
They're hanging out with their friends.

643
00:44:21,362 --> 00:44:24,350
They don't do it.

644
00:44:24,351 --> 00:44:25,643
Mark it down.

645
00:44:25,643 --> 00:44:27,219
People who are not alert,

646
00:44:27,219 --> 00:44:28,888
people who are not awake,

647
00:44:28,888 --> 00:44:32,160
people who foolishly stumble into sin,

648
00:44:32,160 --> 00:44:34,082
stumble into worldliness,

649
00:44:34,082 --> 00:44:35,920
stumble into carnality,

650
00:44:35,920 --> 00:44:37,570
stumble into...

651
00:44:37,570 --> 00:44:40,869
Brethren, if they're not watching,

652
00:44:40,869 --> 00:44:42,973
they're not watching,

653
00:44:42,973 --> 00:44:45,231
they're not attentive...

654
00:44:45,231 --> 00:44:48,053
These things go hand in hand.

655
00:44:48,053 --> 00:44:51,100
Also, you have confession.

656
00:44:51,100 --> 00:44:53,556
Brethren,

657
00:44:53,557 --> 00:45:01,589
if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive them.

658
00:45:01,590 --> 00:45:05,473
Brethren, what you have to recognize is this:

659
00:45:05,474 --> 00:45:08,792
You can go to the Lord's prayer,

660
00:45:08,793 --> 00:45:13,115
and it talks about

661
00:45:13,116 --> 00:45:18,106
Anybody cite the Lord's prayer to me?

662
00:45:18,107 --> 00:45:20,668
Somebody's gotta have it memorized...

663
00:45:20,668 --> 00:45:22,317
Our Father, who art in heaven,

664
00:45:22,317 --> 00:45:23,941
hallowed be thy Name,

665
00:45:23,941 --> 00:45:25,292
thy kingdom come,

666
00:45:25,292 --> 00:45:27,908
thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

667
00:45:27,908 --> 00:45:30,128
Give us this day our daily bread.

668
00:45:30,128 --> 00:45:31,686
And forgive us our trespasses,

669
00:45:31,686 --> 00:45:32,624
Right there!

670
00:45:32,624 --> 00:45:35,167
Right there: Forgive us our trespasses.

671
00:45:35,167 --> 00:45:40,063
This is Jesus teaching His disciples to pray, not lost people.

672
00:45:40,064 --> 00:45:42,793
Forgive us our trespasses.

673
00:45:42,794 --> 00:45:47,262
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive.

674
00:45:47,262 --> 00:45:49,082
Brethren,

675
00:45:49,082 --> 00:45:54,357
there are two kinds of forgiveness:

676
00:45:54,358 --> 00:45:58,839
On the one hand you have a legal forgiveness.

677
00:45:58,839 --> 00:46:00,207
Justification.

678
00:46:00,207 --> 00:46:04,068
We're counted righteous.

679
00:46:04,069 --> 00:46:08,910
But, brethren, there is a relational forgiveness.

680
00:46:08,910 --> 00:46:11,229
You say: “What do you mean?”

681
00:46:11,229 --> 00:46:22,287
There is that kind of forgiveness where David has sinned and you get Psalm 51.

682
00:46:22,288 --> 00:46:26,195
Can anybody think about what Psalm 51 is all about?

683
00:46:28,860 --> 00:46:31,598
He confesses his sins.

684
00:46:31,598 --> 00:46:35,391
There is a place for the Christian to say: Father forgive me!

685
00:46:35,391 --> 00:46:37,832
There is a place for Christian to Christian,

686
00:46:37,832 --> 00:46:42,110
or husband and wife that are Christians, to say: Forgive me!

687
00:46:42,110 --> 00:46:49,481
You see: That's not a legal declaration of righteousness.

688
00:46:49,481 --> 00:46:57,299
That's a relational forgiving so that any grieving of the Spirit,

689
00:46:57,299 --> 00:47:01,097
any grief that was there, any separation that was there...

690
00:47:01,097 --> 00:47:02,765
Brethren, you know how it is:

691
00:47:02,765 --> 00:47:09,503
When we're living our Christian life, sin comes in, some callousness can come in,

692
00:47:09,503 --> 00:47:12,360
but if we're communicating regularly with the Lord,

693
00:47:12,360 --> 00:47:18,816
you know what: It's very difficult to continue a prayer life with the Lord

694
00:47:18,816 --> 00:47:21,745
if you've got some outstanding sin there.

695
00:47:21,745 --> 00:47:25,419
And having appointed times in your day where you go,

696
00:47:25,419 --> 00:47:28,995
or a main time where you go in prayer...

697
00:47:28,995 --> 00:47:32,536
Brethren, I know, often... One of the things that I do

698
00:47:32,536 --> 00:47:38,797
when I go before the Lord in prayer is, there is a searching.

699
00:47:38,798 --> 00:47:40,976
I don't want to just run into His presence.

700
00:47:40,976 --> 00:47:44,156
It's like, I don't want to be a hypocrite,

701
00:47:44,156 --> 00:47:46,338
but there is a place to do inventory.

702
00:47:46,338 --> 00:47:49,034
Is everything o.k.?

703
00:47:49,035 --> 00:47:51,776
Am I harboring anything?

704
00:47:51,777 --> 00:47:55,370
And there is a place for confession to start right off.

705
00:47:55,370 --> 00:47:58,707
A place for repentance.

706
00:47:58,708 --> 00:48:01,646
That is so healthy.

707
00:48:01,647 --> 00:48:04,648
Those who play at prayer or just stick it in the cracks,

708
00:48:04,648 --> 00:48:06,408
or just pray when there is some crisis...

709
00:48:06,408 --> 00:48:08,048
You're not doing that.

710
00:48:08,048 --> 00:48:14,257
And so there is not this constant short account keeping with God.

711
00:48:14,258 --> 00:48:18,317
Many of you have heard, I've told this repeatedly,

712
00:48:18,317 --> 00:48:21,114
I like this, I've come across this,

713
00:48:21,114 --> 00:48:24,922
where one of Spurgeon's deacons was watching Spurgeon.

714
00:48:24,922 --> 00:48:29,978
They were both walking kind of parallel on two sides of the street there in London.

715
00:48:29,978 --> 00:48:31,408
And he was watching Spurgeon.

716
00:48:31,408 --> 00:48:33,326
Spurgeon stopped dead in his tracks,

717
00:48:33,326 --> 00:48:37,090
hung his head for a few minutes, or a few moments,

718
00:48:37,090 --> 00:48:39,357
I don't know if it got into minutes or not,

719
00:48:39,357 --> 00:48:41,997
but he just stopped on the other side, and he watched him,

720
00:48:41,997 --> 00:48:45,599
and then he raised, Spurgeon raised his head, and went on walking.

721
00:48:45,599 --> 00:48:50,300
And the deacon crossed the street, and went over and said:

722
00:48:50,300 --> 00:48:51,375
Everything okay?

723
00:48:51,375 --> 00:48:52,690
And he said:

724
00:48:52,690 --> 00:48:59,473
Something came between me and my Savior and I needed to deal with it immediately.

725
00:48:59,473 --> 00:49:01,648
And it's that keeping of short accounts.

726
00:49:01,648 --> 00:49:04,512
If we're not praying...

727
00:49:04,513 --> 00:49:06,932
Brethren, I would say this:

728
00:49:06,933 --> 00:49:12,333
Battles are won, miracles are done, through praying.

729
00:49:12,333 --> 00:49:15,584
Think about the places in Scripture where they prayed.

730
00:49:15,584 --> 00:49:19,100
Think about the fact that we're told that mountains can be moved,

731
00:49:19,100 --> 00:49:24,406
or trees can be plucked up and, mountains and trees can be cast away...

732
00:49:24,406 --> 00:49:25,453
Think about that.

733
00:49:25,453 --> 00:49:29,832
Hezekiah, think about in Hezekiah's day!

734
00:49:29,833 --> 00:49:37,510
He is faced by probably the strongest ruler on the face of the earth, Sennacherib.

735
00:49:37,510 --> 00:49:40,990
He comes against Jerusalem.

736
00:49:40,990 --> 00:49:42,807
And Hezekiah prayed.

737
00:49:42,807 --> 00:49:44,765
And God heard his prayer.

738
00:49:44,765 --> 00:49:49,144
We could go on and on through the victories that have been won:

739
00:49:49,144 --> 00:49:56,071
James likes to tell the story about the king there that was up against incredible odds,

740
00:49:56,071 --> 00:49:58,229
and they prayed:

741
00:49:58,229 --> 00:50:00,926
“Lord, You know, we don't know what to do.”

742
00:50:00,926 --> 00:50:02,155
“We're looking to you.”

743
00:50:02,155 --> 00:50:03,645
Which king was that?

744
00:50:03,645 --> 00:50:04,996
Jehoshaphat.

745
00:50:04,996 --> 00:50:08,897
And that's all through Scripture.

746
00:50:08,898 --> 00:50:10,796
Lord, help!

747
00:50:10,797 --> 00:50:14,522
And we get help.

748
00:50:14,523 --> 00:50:20,462
You can be certain, brethren, that it's the praying people

749
00:50:20,463 --> 00:50:23,378
that are gonna see:

750
00:50:23,378 --> 00:50:27,793
These kinds of things happen.

751
00:50:27,794 --> 00:50:30,445
What are we told?

752
00:50:30,446 --> 00:50:36,539
Elijah was a man with a nature like ours.

753
00:50:36,540 --> 00:50:40,379
Isn't that interesting? James says that to us.

754
00:50:40,380 --> 00:50:42,399
In other words: Elijah was just like us.

755
00:50:42,399 --> 00:50:44,162
And what did Elijah do?

756
00:50:44,162 --> 00:50:48,364
He prayed. And it didn't rain for how long?

757
00:50:48,365 --> 00:50:49,351
Three and a half years.

758
00:50:49,351 --> 00:50:53,357
Then he prayed. And it rained.

759
00:50:53,358 --> 00:50:59,118
Brethren, the people that experience manifestations of power,

760
00:50:59,119 --> 00:51:03,229
they're not prayerless people.

761
00:51:03,230 --> 00:51:04,709
Typically.

762
00:51:07,895 --> 00:51:13,301
You want the quick path to powerlessness in your life?

763
00:51:13,301 --> 00:51:15,687
Don't pray.

764
00:51:15,688 --> 00:51:19,431
Just don't pray.

765
00:51:19,432 --> 00:51:22,051
So we can go through all these things:

766
00:51:22,051 --> 00:51:26,201
You're brought into the secret place.

767
00:51:26,202 --> 00:51:28,220
Watch!

768
00:51:28,221 --> 00:51:32,550
There is... When we pray, there is an alertness.

769
00:51:32,551 --> 00:51:34,380
There is a perseverance.

770
00:51:34,380 --> 00:51:39,133
When we confess, the relationship is restored.

771
00:51:39,133 --> 00:51:41,823
God delights that we should do this.

772
00:51:41,823 --> 00:51:48,673
There is in the communing and the talking with him like Moses.

773
00:51:48,673 --> 00:51:59,748
There is this God-likeness that begins to be worked into the fabric of our being.

774
00:51:59,749 --> 00:52:01,412
We see miracles.

775
00:52:01,412 --> 00:52:05,494
Battles are won.

776
00:52:05,495 --> 00:52:09,412
There is a closeness, he draws close to us.

777
00:52:09,412 --> 00:52:11,305
There is a communing.

778
00:52:11,305 --> 00:52:13,854
There is a sweetness in all of this.

779
00:52:13,854 --> 00:52:18,566
Now, let's transition over and talk about the Word of God.

780
00:52:18,566 --> 00:52:26,337
I want to go through some texts very quickly here,

781
00:52:26,337 --> 00:52:32,075
that have to do with Scripture.

782
00:52:32,075 --> 00:52:36,668
The first one that jumps out at me is Psalm 119:11.

783
00:52:36,668 --> 00:52:40,527
Somebody look there and read that.

784
00:52:40,527 --> 00:52:43,016
Somebody else, since most of you are gonna be turning there...

785
00:52:43,016 --> 00:52:47,023
Somebody else can turn to 1 John 2, verse 14.

786
00:52:47,023 --> 00:52:51,448
I think that's an amazingly helpful passage as well.

787
00:52:54,017 --> 00:52:56,498
As now we are coming to the other side,

788
00:52:56,498 --> 00:53:00,539
it's not just that we speak to Him.

789
00:53:00,540 --> 00:53:02,872
We need to hear His voice.

790
00:53:05,029 --> 00:53:10,311
And if we do, I just wanna go through a number of advantages,

791
00:53:10,311 --> 00:53:13,099
a number of blessings,

792
00:53:13,099 --> 00:53:19,372
a number of absolutely critical and necessary ways,

793
00:53:19,372 --> 00:53:22,362
in which this is our life,

794
00:53:22,362 --> 00:53:25,740
this helps us to be what we're supposed to be,

795
00:53:25,740 --> 00:53:31,779
to be Christians as Christians ought to be.

796
00:53:31,780 --> 00:53:34,370
Somebody read Psalm 119:11.

797
00:53:37,271 --> 00:53:40,801
I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

798
00:53:40,801 --> 00:53:44,602
That's a classic text.

799
00:53:44,603 --> 00:53:53,270
Brethren, when we go to the Word, we store up the Word in our heart,

800
00:53:53,270 --> 00:53:58,377
that we might not sin against Him.

801
00:53:58,378 --> 00:54:03,939
I suspect that where we see sin...

802
00:54:08,231 --> 00:54:15,016
Those in the church that walk most carnally...

803
00:54:15,017 --> 00:54:17,481
I believe that, based on a text like this,

804
00:54:17,481 --> 00:54:23,972
you can find correlations between how much time they spend in the Word.

805
00:54:23,973 --> 00:54:29,235
Do we play at reading our Bibles or are we serious?

806
00:54:29,236 --> 00:54:33,093
Like I have a feeling that...

807
00:54:33,094 --> 00:54:41,273
I have a feeling that if, again, if we could go back to the DVD of your life,

808
00:54:41,274 --> 00:54:45,316
I have a feeling that there is a direct correlation

809
00:54:45,316 --> 00:54:52,676
between the people who have read the book of Hosea end to end and the purity in your life.

810
00:54:52,676 --> 00:54:55,988
You say: What are you talking about? Hosea?

811
00:54:55,988 --> 00:54:59,178
I'm taking about the minor prophets

812
00:54:59,178 --> 00:55:01,927
which is probably a portion of Scripture

813
00:55:01,927 --> 00:55:05,686
that if people have not read their Bible cover to cover,

814
00:55:05,686 --> 00:55:09,416
is probably an area that people have passed over.

815
00:55:09,416 --> 00:55:12,127
Or places like Leviticus.

816
00:55:12,127 --> 00:55:16,754
Or places like 2 Chronicles.

817
00:55:16,755 --> 00:55:18,936
I would imagine that the people in this room

818
00:55:18,936 --> 00:55:23,037
that have read Leviticus, 2 Chronicles, and Hosea,

819
00:55:23,037 --> 00:55:27,038
it's very likely that there is a pattern...

820
00:55:27,038 --> 00:55:30,375
And I'm not gonna ask for any show of hands.

821
00:55:30,375 --> 00:55:34,110
But people who take the Word seriously...

822
00:55:34,110 --> 00:55:35,869
For me as a young believer,

823
00:55:35,869 --> 00:55:39,628
to know that there was even part of the Bible that I had not read yet,

824
00:55:39,628 --> 00:55:43,599
something God had actually spoken to me, and I hadn't read it yet...

825
00:55:43,599 --> 00:55:46,399
The thought of that was unbearable.

826
00:55:49,679 --> 00:55:53,019
I want to hear His voice, I want to know that.

827
00:55:53,020 --> 00:55:56,107
And when you store up that Word...

828
00:55:58,128 --> 00:56:00,462
There is a direct correlation to sin.

829
00:56:00,462 --> 00:56:03,580
That's what Scripture says.

830
00:56:03,581 --> 00:56:05,295
Think with me:

831
00:56:05,295 --> 00:56:13,230
All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

832
00:56:13,231 --> 00:56:19,110
When I store up the Word in my heart...

833
00:56:19,111 --> 00:56:20,914
Substitute that:

834
00:56:20,914 --> 00:56:26,433
If sin is falling short of the glory of God,

835
00:56:26,433 --> 00:56:35,183
I store up His Word in my heart that I might not ... what?

836
00:56:35,184 --> 00:56:39,395
That I might not fall short of the glory of God.

837
00:56:39,396 --> 00:56:44,731
You see: If life, as the old Westminster Confession says...

838
00:56:49,781 --> 00:56:54,284
What's the main purpose of man?

839
00:56:54,284 --> 00:56:57,413
To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

840
00:56:57,413 --> 00:57:05,106
If indeed, the purpose of man is to glorify God,

841
00:57:05,106 --> 00:57:09,594
then it's not to spend my life falling short of His glory.

842
00:57:12,356 --> 00:57:21,758
And, I guess, what baffles me, is that sometimes, young Christians who are doing things that...

843
00:57:21,758 --> 00:57:25,938
they just don't seem to be a reflection of the glory of God.

844
00:57:28,747 --> 00:57:32,304
Some of the things that some Christians do, I'm quite certain that

845
00:57:32,304 --> 00:57:36,524
if they just had the experience that Isaiah had,

846
00:57:36,524 --> 00:57:39,977
and they walked out of the temple, having seen the Lord,

847
00:57:39,977 --> 00:57:46,086
in that year that king Hezekiah died, high lifted up and His train filled the temple,

848
00:57:46,086 --> 00:57:47,957
and the seraphim...

849
00:57:47,957 --> 00:57:49,350
You come walking out of there...

850
00:57:49,350 --> 00:57:56,986
I doubt, Isaiah ran off and did some of the things that...

851
00:57:56,987 --> 00:58:03,228
... sometimes young people, young professing believers do.

852
00:58:03,229 --> 00:58:07,160
Brethren, did somebody turn to 1 John 2:14?

853
00:58:11,451 --> 00:58:14,577
I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.

854
00:58:14,577 --> 00:58:17,039
Okay, now, don't worry about the fathers.

855
00:58:17,039 --> 00:58:21,350
It's the young men. This is what I want you to hear. Listen to this:

856
00:58:21,350 --> 00:58:23,781
I write to you, young men, because you are strong,

857
00:58:23,781 --> 00:58:27,774
and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

858
00:58:27,774 --> 00:58:28,573
Wow!

859
00:58:28,573 --> 00:58:31,144
To think about all those connections right there.

860
00:58:31,144 --> 00:58:32,801
Strength.

861
00:58:32,801 --> 00:58:34,710
The word of God abides in them.

862
00:58:34,710 --> 00:58:37,739
They've overcome the evil one.

863
00:58:37,740 --> 00:58:39,596
Brethren,

864
00:58:39,596 --> 00:58:41,481
Matthew 4.

865
00:58:41,481 --> 00:58:43,074
Jesus.

866
00:58:43,074 --> 00:58:44,374
Temptation.

867
00:58:44,374 --> 00:58:48,640
Face to face with the devil himself.

868
00:58:48,641 --> 00:58:49,838
In fact that's where He says:

869
00:58:49,838 --> 00:58:55,841
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

870
00:58:55,842 --> 00:58:59,162
He had the sword of the Spirit, and where was it?

871
00:58:59,162 --> 00:59:02,053
I tell you this: It wasn't in a book.

872
00:59:02,053 --> 00:59:05,362
It was in His brain.

873
00:59:05,363 --> 00:59:08,177
Mark that!

874
00:59:08,178 --> 00:59:11,269
O, that doesn't mean that He never read from the scroll.

875
00:59:11,269 --> 00:59:17,863
Obviously He grew in wisdom and favor.

876
00:59:17,863 --> 00:59:22,052
We see that in Luke. He grew in wisdom.

877
00:59:22,053 --> 00:59:23,993
How did He grow?

878
00:59:23,993 --> 00:59:25,874
Obviously, being taught.

879
00:59:25,874 --> 00:59:29,206
Obviously, reading.

880
00:59:29,207 --> 00:59:31,716
But you see where His sword was?

881
00:59:31,716 --> 00:59:32,973
The sword of the Spirit?

882
00:59:32,973 --> 00:59:35,841
The word of God was no longer in a book.

883
00:59:35,841 --> 00:59:39,105
It was in His brain. It was in His thoughts.

884
00:59:39,105 --> 00:59:40,573
How did He get there?

885
00:59:40,573 --> 00:59:48,224
By spending hours, and hours, and hours in the Word of God.

886
00:59:48,224 --> 00:59:49,988
By soaking it up.

887
00:59:49,988 --> 00:59:51,833
By meditating on it.

888
00:59:51,833 --> 00:59:56,717
By letting it course through your brain, and renew that mind.

889
00:59:56,717 --> 01:00:04,494
And your mind begins to be ... impacted by it.

890
01:00:04,495 --> 01:00:09,008
Listen, if your brains are being exposed to worldly music,

891
01:00:09,008 --> 01:00:12,177
and worldly garbage on the Internet,

892
01:00:12,177 --> 01:00:14,246
and trash on the Internet,

893
01:00:14,246 --> 01:00:17,938
and you're surrounding yourselves either through the TV,

894
01:00:17,938 --> 01:00:18,703
through movies,

895
01:00:18,703 --> 01:00:19,702
through the Internet,

896
01:00:19,702 --> 01:00:23,689
through actual companions you're surrounding yourself,

897
01:00:23,689 --> 01:00:27,615
with worldly ungodly people and influences...

898
01:00:27,615 --> 01:00:33,129
It's no wonder that your life is not gonna be in the same place

899
01:00:33,129 --> 01:00:38,060
as the life of the person who lives in that Word.

900
01:00:38,060 --> 01:00:42,231
Here is what Jesus said, He says this in John 5:

901
01:00:42,231 --> 01:00:46,881
You search the Scriptures,

902
01:00:46,881 --> 01:00:50,901
because in there you think you're gonna find eternal life.

903
01:00:50,901 --> 01:00:54,683
But He said: Those Scriptures speak of Me.

904
01:00:54,683 --> 01:00:57,087
And you may remember on the road to Emmaus

905
01:00:57,087 --> 01:00:59,451
He went through all the Old Testament Scriptures,

906
01:00:59,451 --> 01:01:04,819
and He basically showed those two guys Himself.

907
01:01:04,819 --> 01:01:06,611
All through.

908
01:01:06,611 --> 01:01:08,043
The law.

909
01:01:08,043 --> 01:01:09,745
And the prophets.

910
01:01:09,745 --> 01:01:13,473
All through the Old Testament.

911
01:01:13,474 --> 01:01:16,872
The Scriptures speak of Him.

912
01:01:16,872 --> 01:01:20,841
You see, that's where we see Him.

913
01:01:20,842 --> 01:01:26,549
What happens is, that, if all you do is pray,

914
01:01:26,550 --> 01:01:29,500
if all you do is talk to Him,

915
01:01:29,501 --> 01:01:32,347
you have no idea who you're talking to.

916
01:01:32,348 --> 01:01:38,113
It's when we go to Scripture, we see who our God is.

917
01:01:38,113 --> 01:01:39,754
We see His character.

918
01:01:39,754 --> 01:01:42,333
We get a feel for His person.

919
01:01:42,333 --> 01:01:46,634
It's in Scripture that we get a feel for the person.

920
01:01:46,634 --> 01:01:50,777
It's like, you go to Scripture, and He speaks to you and He says:

921
01:01:50,777 --> 01:01:54,291
This is who I am.

922
01:01:54,292 --> 01:02:00,308
And now that greatly impacts when you answer back in prayer,

923
01:02:00,308 --> 01:02:02,286
how you approach Him.

924
01:02:08,706 --> 01:02:12,581
What else can we say?

925
01:02:12,582 --> 01:02:15,737
Psalm 37:21 ... 31, rather

926
01:02:15,737 --> 01:02:18,336
Psalm 37:31

927
01:02:30,786 --> 01:02:32,875
This may be similar.

928
01:02:32,875 --> 01:02:38,105
The idea in Psalm 119 is the fact that we not sin,

929
01:02:38,105 --> 01:02:40,904
we're not gonna fall short of the glory of God.

930
01:02:40,904 --> 01:02:47,980
Here, Psalm 37:31, the idea is: That our steps don't slip.

931
01:02:50,421 --> 01:02:52,956
Somebody want to read it?

932
01:02:52,957 --> 01:02:58,098
The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip.

933
01:02:58,098 --> 01:03:09,190
Yeah. Then, probably, one that I believe I memorized as a young Christian is Psalm 1.

934
01:03:09,190 --> 01:03:15,810
Psalm 1, the first three verses. Somebody want to look that one up?

935
01:03:15,811 --> 01:03:18,759
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

936
01:03:18,759 --> 01:03:22,545
nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

937
01:03:22,545 --> 01:03:26,743
but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

938
01:03:26,743 --> 01:03:31,668
Now, what is that? In his law he meditates day and night.

939
01:03:31,668 --> 01:03:35,722
It's like praying. Pray without ceasing.

940
01:03:35,723 --> 01:03:42,585
Devoted times, dedicated times are good.

941
01:03:42,585 --> 01:03:46,673
Discipline, get those in your life, go back to them.

942
01:03:46,673 --> 01:03:49,432
But don't ever think you're limited to them.

943
01:03:49,432 --> 01:03:55,396
We should be letting that word course through our minds day and night.

944
01:03:55,396 --> 01:03:58,722
Drift off to sleep, thinking about Scripture.

945
01:03:58,723 --> 01:04:01,614
Wake up, think about Scripture.

946
01:04:01,614 --> 01:04:03,255
Listen:

947
01:04:05,305 --> 01:04:12,345
You think about what you expose yourself to.

948
01:04:15,084 --> 01:04:19,236
Did anybody think of any verses that kind of make that connection?

949
01:04:21,521 --> 01:04:25,785
That what you see or what you hear, what you're exposed to...

950
01:04:25,785 --> 01:04:28,624
Bad company ruins good morals?

951
01:04:28,625 --> 01:04:30,835
That could be one.

952
01:04:30,836 --> 01:04:34,396
[...]The eye is the lamp of the body.

953
01:04:34,397 --> 01:04:37,481
Perhaps.

954
01:04:37,482 --> 01:04:43,265
How about one that talks about just guarding the heart?

955
01:04:43,266 --> 01:04:47,026
Anybody think of a text that says anything like that?

956
01:04:49,062 --> 01:04:51,926
Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.

957
01:04:51,926 --> 01:04:54,611
Out of it flow the issues of life.

958
01:04:54,611 --> 01:04:58,672
It's the idea that you guard...

959
01:04:58,672 --> 01:05:00,006
Listen:

960
01:05:02,277 --> 01:05:07,475
If you watch something before you go to bed,

961
01:05:07,475 --> 01:05:11,857
it's gonna impact how you think as you're going off to sleep.

962
01:05:11,857 --> 01:05:14,355
It's gonna impact your dreams.

963
01:05:14,355 --> 01:05:16,808
What we fill ourselves with,

964
01:05:16,808 --> 01:05:18,262
what we fill our thoughts with,

965
01:05:18,262 --> 01:05:21,858
what we fill our minds with...

966
01:05:21,859 --> 01:05:24,520
We're to be renewing the mind.

967
01:05:24,520 --> 01:05:26,542
And, listen:

968
01:05:26,542 --> 01:05:28,299
Scripture...

969
01:05:30,449 --> 01:05:33,567
Think about what Scripture says:

970
01:05:33,568 --> 01:05:36,278
It's active.

971
01:05:36,279 --> 01:05:38,290
It's living.

972
01:05:42,377 --> 01:05:46,780
These are just pages and ink by themselves,

973
01:05:46,781 --> 01:05:50,206
but the truths contained,

974
01:05:50,207 --> 01:05:55,653
as they come to the eyeball and get processed in the thoughts,

975
01:05:55,654 --> 01:05:57,351
there is life.

976
01:05:57,351 --> 01:05:58,823
There is action.

977
01:05:58,823 --> 01:06:00,137
There is movement.

978
01:06:00,137 --> 01:06:01,611
There is power.

979
01:06:01,611 --> 01:06:07,040
There is a living Word in this book.

980
01:06:07,040 --> 01:06:12,444
The Spirit of God makes this alive.

981
01:06:12,445 --> 01:06:21,223
And when we bring that in, it has distinct and definite impact on us.

982
01:06:21,224 --> 01:06:24,898
Anyway, who is reading Psalm 1?

983
01:06:24,898 --> 01:06:30,110
Pick up where you left off and keep going all the way to the end of three.

984
01:06:30,111 --> 01:06:35,233
He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season,

985
01:06:35,233 --> 01:06:39,529
and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

986
01:06:39,529 --> 01:06:41,134
Notice that.

987
01:06:41,134 --> 01:06:44,964
This man who meditates on the Word night and day,

988
01:06:44,964 --> 01:06:50,702
the law of God just fills his life, his heart, his mind.

989
01:06:50,703 --> 01:06:57,014
It's directly linked to the man who prospers, who's fruitful.

990
01:07:00,906 --> 01:07:03,045
I think of another one...

991
01:07:03,045 --> 01:07:12,044
Anybody think of a text that talks about God saying to this man: I will look?

992
01:07:12,045 --> 01:07:13,721
Isaiah 66

993
01:07:18,641 --> 01:07:22,588
Look it up, brother, quote it for us.

994
01:07:35,848 --> 01:07:39,518
Isaiah, chapter 66, verse 2

995
01:07:39,518 --> 01:07:42,909
But to this one I will look:

996
01:07:42,909 --> 01:07:49,418
to him who is humble and contrite in spirit and who trembles at my word.

997
01:07:49,419 --> 01:07:51,776
Who trembles at my word.

998
01:07:56,547 --> 01:08:02,591
I guarantee that that's somebody who actually is in the Word,

999
01:08:02,591 --> 01:08:04,361
meditates on the Word,

1000
01:08:04,361 --> 01:08:06,611
understands the Word,

1001
01:08:06,611 --> 01:08:12,627
takes the Word serious, and is concerned to live it out...

1002
01:08:12,628 --> 01:08:18,620
God says: That's the man to whom I will look.

1003
01:08:18,621 --> 01:08:21,589
That's a look from God.

1004
01:08:21,589 --> 01:08:23,130
Doesn't He look everywhere?

1005
01:08:23,130 --> 01:08:27,370
Again, it's a special, it's a unique, it's a look of blessing.

1006
01:08:27,370 --> 01:08:28,740
It's a look of help.

1007
01:08:28,740 --> 01:08:34,354
It's a look that you want.

1008
01:08:34,355 --> 01:08:38,123
For God to say, He's gonna look at you, is all good.

1009
01:08:38,123 --> 01:08:45,225
It's the look of everything that you want.

1010
01:08:45,226 --> 01:08:47,933
If you could see things the way God sees them.

1011
01:08:47,933 --> 01:08:52,360
And the way He sees them is the right way to see them.

1012
01:08:52,361 --> 01:08:55,473
But, if you just think about these verses:

1013
01:08:55,473 --> 01:09:01,437
Our prayer life, our life in the Word.

1014
01:09:01,438 --> 01:09:04,084
Man does not live by bread alone.

1015
01:09:09,059 --> 01:09:15,095
The Christian lives by the words that come out of God's mouth.

1016
01:09:15,096 --> 01:09:17,336
This has to be priority.

1017
01:09:17,336 --> 01:09:21,606
If our Lord Jesus Christ says Man does not live by bread alone,

1018
01:09:21,606 --> 01:09:26,130
but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

1019
01:09:26,131 --> 01:09:28,206
You have to be thinking:

1020
01:09:28,206 --> 01:09:32,357
Is our spiritual life more or less important than our physical life?

1021
01:09:32,357 --> 01:09:41,747
How much do we eat physically ... versus how much we eat spiritually?

1022
01:09:41,748 --> 01:09:45,640
Again: Brethren, there is a reality.

1023
01:09:45,640 --> 01:09:50,898
Everyone in this room has a reality about how much they're in the Word.

1024
01:09:50,898 --> 01:09:53,620
There is a reality about our prayer life.

1025
01:09:53,620 --> 01:09:55,246
There is ... look:

1026
01:09:55,246 --> 01:10:01,837
I know that there is a way that we might wish it was.

1027
01:10:01,837 --> 01:10:05,788
Or: There is a way we portray it to other people.

1028
01:10:05,788 --> 01:10:09,199
But the truth is: There is a way that it actually is.

1029
01:10:09,199 --> 01:10:12,815
And that's what counts.

1030
01:10:12,815 --> 01:10:16,678
That's what really matters.

1031
01:10:16,679 --> 01:10:25,912
These two aspects of the Christian life, prayer and the Word,

1032
01:10:25,912 --> 01:10:34,642
it's our communication, it's the essential links

1033
01:10:34,642 --> 01:10:39,841
to walking with our God and with His Christ.

1034
01:10:39,841 --> 01:10:43,419
It's the essential links in knowing Him.

1035
01:10:43,419 --> 01:10:46,748
It's the essential links in closeness to Him.

1036
01:10:46,748 --> 01:10:51,155
It's the essential links in growth.

1037
01:10:51,156 --> 01:10:54,523
He is our good, He is our growth.

1038
01:10:54,523 --> 01:10:59,253
It's nearness to Him that is going to produce

1039
01:10:59,253 --> 01:11:03,143
everything good that we need to have produced.

1040
01:11:03,143 --> 01:11:07,113
Separation from Him is never healthy.

1041
01:11:07,113 --> 01:11:09,284
Closeness to Him,

1042
01:11:09,284 --> 01:11:11,154
being attached to Him,

1043
01:11:11,154 --> 01:11:13,033
being united to Him,

1044
01:11:13,033 --> 01:11:14,536
fellowshipping with Him,

1045
01:11:14,536 --> 01:11:16,185
communing with Him:

1046
01:11:16,185 --> 01:11:18,687
That is where our life is.

1047
01:11:18,687 --> 01:11:26,195
These two channels are the lifelines to Christ.

1048
01:11:26,195 --> 01:11:29,004
They're the lifelines to our God.

1049
01:11:29,004 --> 01:11:34,728
And, look, if you're not prioritizing,

1050
01:11:34,728 --> 01:11:36,500
if this is sloppy,

1051
01:11:36,500 --> 01:11:38,819
if it's being pressed in the corner,

1052
01:11:38,819 --> 01:11:43,076
I'll tell you this: You will never go deep with God.

1053
01:11:43,076 --> 01:11:47,565
And you will never become what you could become.

1054
01:11:47,566 --> 01:11:51,778
And you will stay fairly immature,

1055
01:11:51,778 --> 01:12:01,026
fairly carnal to the degree that you neglect these things.

1056
01:12:01,026 --> 01:12:05,784
There is a direct correlation between your spiritual health

1057
01:12:05,784 --> 01:12:09,690
and what I'm talking about here. A direct correlation.

1058
01:12:09,690 --> 01:12:11,087
And you can't get away from it.

1059
01:12:11,087 --> 01:12:13,328
And there is no substitutes for it.

1060
01:12:17,047 --> 01:12:23,306
Anybody want to add anything, or any questions before we end this?

1061
01:12:23,306 --> 01:12:25,848
James, you want to say anything about that?

1062
01:12:25,848 --> 01:12:28,171
Did you mention Job 23?

1063
01:12:28,171 --> 01:12:28,987
No.

1064
01:12:28,987 --> 01:12:29,963
Verse 12

1065
01:12:29,963 --> 01:12:32,799
I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;

1066
01:12:32,799 --> 01:12:39,093
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.

1067
01:12:39,094 --> 01:12:41,699
Now see the thing, in Psalm 63, David said:

1068
01:12:41,699 --> 01:12:45,571
I meditate on you in the watches of the night.

1069
01:12:45,571 --> 01:12:50,820
It's like David's laying in his bed meditating on the Lord.

1070
01:12:50,821 --> 01:12:52,021
Right.

1071
01:12:56,279 --> 01:12:59,148
Anything else?

1072
01:12:59,149 --> 01:13:04,412
Did George Müller read the Bible four times a year? Was that what it was?

1073
01:13:04,413 --> 01:13:08,172
No, I actually think he only read it once a year.

1074
01:13:08,172 --> 01:13:15,441
But he lived to be almost 100 years old, so, it was ... very consistent.

1075
01:13:15,441 --> 01:13:18,522
That's what I think I remember.

1076
01:13:18,523 --> 01:13:23,885
Only some biography, someone commented about it and said, he read it four times every year.

1077
01:13:23,885 --> 01:13:25,655
Anybody know?

1078
01:13:29,140 --> 01:13:30,903
I mean, that's good.

1079
01:13:30,904 --> 01:13:32,961
If you can do it, that's great.

1080
01:13:36,153 --> 01:13:39,285
Okay, let's pray.

1081
01:13:39,286 --> 01:13:45,115
Father, I pray that You would give us all ears to hear.

1082
01:13:45,116 --> 01:13:50,235
Lord, draw Your people into Your presence.

1083
01:13:50,235 --> 01:13:52,171
Draw us by Your kindness.

1084
01:13:52,171 --> 01:13:53,549
Draw us with Your love.

1085
01:13:53,549 --> 01:13:55,375
Draw us, Lord!

1086
01:13:58,907 --> 01:14:02,639
Father, in our natural state we have no appetite for any of this.

1087
01:14:02,639 --> 01:14:05,342
We have no desire for any of this.

1088
01:14:05,343 --> 01:14:10,705
O Lord, if we do have, to the degree that we have it, it's from You.

1089
01:14:10,705 --> 01:14:15,208
You give us the spiritual health to desire these things.

1090
01:14:15,208 --> 01:14:20,716
And I pray, Lord, incline us.

1091
01:14:20,716 --> 01:14:22,608
Draw us, Lord!

1092
01:14:22,608 --> 01:14:25,775
As it says there in the Song of Solomon, in the King James version:

1093
01:14:25,775 --> 01:14:29,120
Draw us, and we will run after you.

1094
01:14:29,120 --> 01:14:34,212
Lord, please, draw us.

1095
01:14:34,212 --> 01:14:36,883
We pray in Christ's name. Amen.