WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:00.800 Well, good morning. 00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:02.479 My name is Brady Randall. 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:04.719 I'm the campus pastor at Orchard Hill Butler County. 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:07.120 It's good to be together this morning. 00:00:07.839 --> 00:00:12.240 Just to say thank you so much for those of you who have been praying for Orchard Hill Butler County. 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:13.759 We are going to launch this fall. 00:00:13.919 --> 00:00:22.079 And again, if you happen to live a little further north or you have a heart for mission and adventure and would like to be a part of our core team, we'd love for you to be a part. 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:25.440 But let's pray and ask God to be with us this morning. 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:30.879 And as we pray, would you pray for me that God would give me the words that you need to hear this morning? 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:38.079 And would you also pray for yourself that God would convict you and move in you and give you the words that you need to hear this morning? 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:39.520 Let's pray. 00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:46.079 Father God, we need to hear from you. 00:00:46.240 --> 00:00:48.560 You're the only person that we need to hear from this morning. 00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:57.679 And God, I pray that you would speak in a way that's clear, in a way that's persuasive, in a way that is loving, in a way that convicts us, and that we hear from you. 00:00:58.479 --> 00:01:02.159 God, I pray that you would use my words not to be mine but to be yours. 00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:04.640 And we ask and pray this in Jesus' name. 00:01:04.959 --> 00:01:05.599 Amen. 00:01:06.799 --> 00:01:14.640 I want you to think about who is the number one person in the world, alive or dead, that you would love to sit down and have dinner with? 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:18.640 You think about some of these people and you can find them online. 00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:24.239 People want to have dinner with Princess Diana, Martin Luther King Jr., Albert Einstein. 00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:26.719 But you know what's crazy? 00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:36.319 Is that we can sit down and have not only have dinner with, but we can actually sit down and have a conversation with the God of the universe. 00:01:36.879 --> 00:01:42.079 The God who literally spoke and all things that you and I see came into being. 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:46.879 The God who knows exactly how many hairs are on your head. 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:49.760 The God who knows each star by name. 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:55.680 Not only can we spend time with him, but the crazy thing is he actually wants to spend time with us. 00:01:56.879 --> 00:02:04.879 You may have never given thought to what it means to have a personal, quiet time with God where you're reading the Bible and talking to God through prayer. 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:12.240 But even whether or not you consider yourself a follower of Jesus, all of us are looking for wisdom in our days. 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:13.919 We're looking for help. 00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:18.319 We realize that in and of ourselves we don't have all the right answers. 00:02:18.719 --> 00:02:21.439 We need some outside wisdom and guidance. 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:30.159 And my encouragement for you today is to consider that what we may need more than anything else is to sit down and to hear from God. 00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:36.800 We're starting a series this month on the best spiritual practices, spiritual disciplines. 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:42.639 And these are actually, these are not character qualities, these are actually things that we do. 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:49.439 Things like reading the scripture, memorizing scripture, praying, fasting, worshiping. 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:55.840 But the goal of these is not just that we would do them, but that we would actually look more like Jesus. 00:02:56.080 --> 00:03:05.360 And in fact, a theme verse for these days could be 1 Timothy 4, verses 7 to 8, where it says, train yourself to be godly. 00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:16.080 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:21.360 In other words, we are called to discipline ourselves for the sake of godliness. 00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:27.599 And these practices can be done on our own strength, or they can be done in the strength that God provides. 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:36.319 And we've got to be careful when we talk about things that we do as if that these things, just like the Pharisees thought, can earn God's grace. 00:03:36.879 --> 00:03:39.759 These practices are means of grace. 00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:42.960 They're not a means to grace and earning God's favor. 00:03:43.599 --> 00:03:53.520 And so in these next few weeks, we'll talk about the importance of Bible reading and prayer: corporate worship, serving, spiritual friendship, and withdrawal. 00:03:53.759 --> 00:04:00.159 And I've got to tell you that this week's message is both a blessing to be able to share and also a conviction. 00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:04.479 It's a conviction because this is a message that I need now more than ever. 00:04:04.879 --> 00:04:20.480 And I wish I could share this with you and tell you that I was a spiritual disciplines guru, that I had this thing all figured out, that I was just killing it when it comes to spending time with the Lord, waking up every morning and just spending hours and hours a day of my God seeking after the Lord. 00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:22.959 But that's not always the case for me. 00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:31.199 And if you have any strong conviction or encouragement today, I just want to come at this as a fellow struggler with you. 00:04:31.519 --> 00:04:33.839 And again, I've been on both ends of the spectrum. 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:37.279 There have been times when I wake up and I can't wait to spend time with God. 00:04:37.439 --> 00:04:40.000 It feels like his word is coming alive. 00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:43.759 It feels like God is flooding me with new and creative ideas. 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:48.480 And then there are other days where it feels like I just check it off the list. 00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:54.240 Read a little bit of scripture here, shot a few prayers to God, and that's it. 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:58.160 And now let me get on to the most important part of my day. 00:04:58.399 --> 00:05:01.839 And by the way, I can tell you when God and I aren't right. 00:05:02.160 --> 00:05:06.399 And by right, what I mean is not closely as connected with Him. 00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:08.720 Normally I'm shorter with people. 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:12.560 Normally I'm feeling anxious and stressed. 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:15.360 Normally I don't respond to people the way that I should. 00:05:15.439 --> 00:05:19.759 Sometimes I'm not sharing as many encouraging scripture verses with people. 00:05:20.319 --> 00:05:25.439 And for me, when I get to that place, I have to always come back to John 15. 00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:31.199 Think about a skill that you have to learn, whether it's in sports or whether you're learning a piano. 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:34.079 Usually we always have to go back to the basics. 00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:37.519 And John 15 is just that. 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:44.879 And again, I think this week's message is so important because so many of us are busy and stressed. 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:52.480 And how in the world are we supposed to make a daily quiet time with God when we've got so much else going on in our lives? 00:05:52.800 --> 00:05:57.120 I mean, think about the obstacles to our prayer and devotional life. 00:05:57.360 --> 00:06:06.959 If you're a younger parent and you have kids that are up once and twice in the night, it can be really hard to wake up feeling excited to have a daily quiet time in the morning. 00:06:07.199 --> 00:06:15.439 Or maybe you're working a lot of hours at work, or maybe you're stressed, or maybe you have a lot going on in your family or at home. 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:20.160 And it can be hard to actually make time to spend with God. 00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:26.560 And the ironic thing is many of us can be working for the Lord without actually spending time with him. 00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:33.759 We can be on a serving team, we can be serving a whole week at Kids' Fest, we can even be working at a church. 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:41.439 And if we're not careful, we can be doing things for the Lord and substituting that time with him. 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:43.600 And so I get it. 00:06:43.920 --> 00:06:45.199 It's hard. 00:06:45.519 --> 00:06:49.519 How do we fit this into our daily, busy schedules? 00:06:49.839 --> 00:06:57.360 And yet I think it's crucial because so many of us are bombarded on a daily basis with different messaging that we're taking in. 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:06.079 That if we are not intentional about our walk with the Lord, we will let other things come in and take his place and his priority. 00:07:06.480 --> 00:07:16.959 And again, if this is already kind of stressing you out or you're feeling convicted about this, can I just encourage you that when we are weak, that's when God shows up the strongest? 00:07:17.199 --> 00:07:20.800 And so I would just encourage to make this your prayer today. 00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:29.040 And if you're already a follower of Jesus, the encouragement for us is to continue to remain and be connected to Him. 00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:44.240 And if you're still kicking the tires on faith, the encouragement to you is what would it look like if you sectioned out just a part of your day that you are willing to hear from God by reading his word and by offering a prayer to him? 00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:53.360 Call out to him, share with him your doubts, and see if God won't meet you right where he finds you and begin to change you from the inside out. 00:07:53.680 --> 00:07:57.439 Here in John 15, Jesus is talking to his disciples in the upper room. 00:07:57.600 --> 00:07:59.199 It's the day before his death. 00:07:59.439 --> 00:08:04.000 And he says that his father is the vine and he is the gardener. 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:13.759 And he cuts off every branch that doesn't bear fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 00:08:14.240 --> 00:08:16.240 Now that sounds painful. 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:20.560 And God often uses painful pruning to shape us. 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:29.680 In fact, God will use trials, God will use his own discipline to make us more, look more and more like Jesus. 00:08:29.920 --> 00:08:37.519 I kind of see it like this on the screen, you'll see a block of ice, and whenever I look at that, I just see that, a block of ice. 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:46.960 But when an ice sculptor sees a block of ice, he doesn't just see an ice cube, he sees a beautiful horse that's waiting to be chipped and chiseled out. 00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:53.440 And what the sculptor will do will chip and chisel away everything that doesn't look like that horse. 00:08:54.320 --> 00:09:02.639 And I think in the same way, what God often does is he doesn't just see us for who we are, but he sees us for what we'll become in Christ. 00:09:02.879 --> 00:09:08.879 And God chips and chisels away everything that doesn't ultimately look like Jesus. 00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:14.240 You see, the trials themselves don't improve you, but they just tear you open. 00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:20.399 I was thinking about this a couple years ago, my wife and I wanted to go to the best beach in America. 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:29.759 And so we researched what is the best beach in the USA, and what we found, supposedly, was a place called Siesta Key, Florida that had the best beach. 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:31.600 And when we got there, it was beautiful. 00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:34.639 There's these white sandy beaches, it's this beautiful water. 00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:37.440 And so we would often walk along the beach. 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:44.639 And the the weird part was there was about a segment of about 15 yards with all these broken up seashells. 00:09:44.799 --> 00:09:50.559 And so I was, as I was walking, I stepped in it and I felt something really painful in my heel. 00:09:50.639 --> 00:09:56.399 And when I got back to the hotel, I realized that I had a piece of seashell stuck in my foot. 00:09:56.559 --> 00:10:06.799 And so it wasn't until I got back home that the doctor actually had to cut me open to perform minor surgery until the skin was broken and healed. 00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:16.559 And so I think in the same way, the trials themselves reveal things to us, but it's actually the word of God that has to come in and clean us. 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:19.200 In fact, that's what Jesus says in verse 3. 00:10:19.360 --> 00:10:24.399 He says, You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:28.639 Remain in me as I remain in you. 00:10:29.279 --> 00:10:32.720 Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:38.240 If you remain in me, in I in you, you will bear much fruit. 00:10:38.559 --> 00:10:41.840 But apart from me, you can do nothing. 00:10:42.559 --> 00:10:46.480 And I've always read that and kind of wanted to debate with Jesus. 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:48.480 What do you mean, Jesus? 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:49.679 You can do nothing. 00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:54.080 There are so many people doing so many things seemingly apart from you. 00:10:55.360 --> 00:11:02.240 And yet what I think Jesus is saying is that apart from me, you can do nothing of eternal or lasting value. 00:11:02.879 --> 00:11:09.279 The word remain here is the word mano, and occurs 11 times here, 40 times in John's gospel. 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:14.559 And it means to remain or abide or endure. 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:18.399 And the question is, how do we do that? 00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:21.679 How do we remain with Christ? 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:28.639 I think the first thing we have to do, first of all, is to know Christ and then to actually spend time with him. 00:11:29.360 --> 00:11:43.120 Jesus says in 524, very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged, but is crossed over from death to life. 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:56.480 And so what Jesus says here is that for those who trust in me and believe that what I did on the cross counts for you, I will give you eternal life, not just that starts when you die, but eternal life that starts right now. 00:11:57.120 --> 00:12:04.879 And not only does Christ want to know us and for us to know him, but he wants us to spend significant time with him. 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:11.200 And so to remain with Christ is to spend time with him by getting his word inside of us. 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:16.320 Verse 7, he says, If you remain in me, and my words remain in you. 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:19.600 I'll never forget a woman named Diane Scott. 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:31.919 The first church that I worked at was in Taylorstown, PA, and she just was an older woman, and there were just a couple of kids in the congregation, and she said, Pastor, whatever you do for those kids, you gotta get the word in them. 00:12:32.159 --> 00:12:34.639 You gotta just get that word right up inside them. 00:12:34.799 --> 00:12:39.840 And she was a little bit crude and a little crass, but she was absolutely right. 00:12:40.159 --> 00:12:47.840 There's such an integral importance to getting the word of God inside of us on a daily basis. 00:12:48.080 --> 00:12:50.080 And again, this can be hard. 00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:57.679 And even though I've experienced its benefit time and time again, it can sometimes be something that I just check off the list. 00:12:59.039 --> 00:13:02.399 I read something from the New Testament, read something from the Old Testament. 00:13:02.559 --> 00:13:05.360 Now let me get on to the important part of my day. 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:10.000 And sometimes when it comes to Bible reading, we wonder, where should I even start? 00:13:10.240 --> 00:13:20.320 And I don't know if you've ever tried the drop and plot method where you just kind of close your eyes, open the Bible up to where it lands, put your finger in there, and like that's God's word for me today. 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:22.799 And God can speak through that. 00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:28.320 I know that some of you read devotions, and that can be a really helpful place to start. 00:13:28.639 --> 00:13:37.440 But if I could encourage you, there's nothing more important than, and there's no substitute for actually digging into the very Word of God itself. 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:43.120 If you ever feel stuck, I would suggest maybe thinking about a Bible reading plan. 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:44.879 You can find some of those online. 00:13:53.919 --> 00:14:04.240 Some of them go through the Bible in a year, and what I found is for me, taking in four chapters a day is a little bit much to kind of assume and to kind of get it inside of me. 00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:09.679 And so I've preferred to read one chapter from the Old Testament and one chapter from the new. 00:14:09.840 --> 00:14:11.360 But you can go at your own pace. 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:15.600 There's no rhyme or reason where you have to read this much or you have to read this much. 00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:18.399 But we've got to get the word inside of us. 00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:20.480 We've got to listen to the word. 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:22.639 We can study the word. 00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:24.480 We can think about the word. 00:14:24.720 --> 00:14:26.559 We can even memorize the word. 00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:33.759 And I've kind of had a love-hate relationship when it comes to memorizing Scripture because that can be a hard, arduous process. 00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:43.039 And yet, if you think about think about some of the benefits of memorizing God's Word, it can get something good inside of us. 00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:47.279 It can give us the best material for counseling others. 00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:53.600 It can help us fight off temptation for sin, getting the word inside of us. 00:14:54.159 --> 00:15:02.879 And yet we also have to remember that memorizing it doesn't earn ourselves any more favor than anything else because even Satan memorized the scriptures. 00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:11.440 We are influenced by so many things, by advertisements, by people, by movies, by media, by social media. 00:15:12.320 --> 00:15:14.960 We need to be influenced by the word of God. 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:22.559 And what I often forget is that I have the living, breathing Word of God at my disposal. 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:26.799 There are millions of people around the world who can't even say that. 00:15:27.039 --> 00:15:29.519 And yet sometimes I take it for granted. 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:35.360 And you see, here's the thing: Jesus doesn't want to just come into our lives as a silent guest. 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:39.360 He wants to give his opinions and his commands. 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:44.000 And if we're not opening ourselves up to that, we are ultimately missing out. 00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:48.159 And yet Jesus offers us a warning about the very scriptures. 00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:58.799 In fact, in John chapter 5, 39 to 40, he says this, you study the scriptures diligently, because you think that in them you have eternal life. 00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:06.240 But these are the very scriptures that testify about me, and yet you refuse to come to them to have life. 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:09.919 So we've got to get the word inside of us. 00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:13.919 But we also have the opportunity to talk to God through prayer. 00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:22.480 Jesus says, if you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:28.639 And I know that we have some real prayer warriors in this church, and I'm grateful for that. 00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:34.799 I'm reminded of a saying that Kurt often says, and he says, whenever we work, we work. 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:38.799 But whenever we pray, God works. 00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:46.240 And what's incredible is that we have a God who doesn't just hear us, but he actually responds to us. 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:51.919 If you've been with us through the Jonah series, you've seen how Jonah was to preach against Nineveh. 00:16:52.320 --> 00:17:02.080 And whenever Nineveh heard the message of God about them, they actually repented, prayed to God, and God relented without sending the calamity. 00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:10.480 We have a God who longs to not just hear us and spend time with us, but to actually respond to things that we say. 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:16.160 And again, sometimes, like with Bible reading, when it comes to prayer, we don't know where to start. 00:17:16.559 --> 00:17:21.200 Have you ever been praying to God and it feels like, God, am I even getting through? 00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:23.920 Are my prayers just bouncing off the wall? 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:24.880 God, are you there? 00:17:25.039 --> 00:17:25.599 Are you real? 00:17:25.759 --> 00:17:26.319 Do you exist? 00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:28.240 Do you care what I have to say? 00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:32.240 And if that's been you, can I encourage you? 00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:33.680 Start right there. 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:37.519 Make that your prayer to say, God, I'm having some serious doubts. 00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:41.680 I don't even know if you exist, let alone hear and respond to me. 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:43.440 Lord, I need you. 00:17:44.480 --> 00:17:47.519 The psalms are a great tutorial for prayer. 00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:53.920 You just read through and pray through some of the psalms and just hear the cries, the honest cries of the psalmist. 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:56.559 That's a great place to start. 00:17:57.200 --> 00:18:00.400 Jesus' disciples wanted to know, how do we pray? 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:14.000 And so they asked Jesus, and Jesus wanted to teach them a model of prayer, but before he did that, he said the first thing to do is get away from distraction, go into your room, go into the closet, and then go into prayer. 00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:18.880 And that can be a hard thing to do in today's day and age with cell phones and with busy lives. 00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:22.400 How do we actually unplug and get away? 00:18:22.960 --> 00:18:34.640 I heard of a mom who had a ton of little kids running around throughout the day, and what she would do is she would take a sheet, put it over her head, and for 10 minutes that was her quiet time with the Lord. 00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:44.720 I heard another couple who, again, they had a bunch of kids running around, and what they would do when they would pray by themselves or as a couple, they wouldn't let their kids interrupt them. 00:18:45.039 --> 00:18:50.559 Because what they wanted their children to know was that God was the most important thing in their life. 00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:57.119 And that can be a little bit extreme, but again, it goes to the importance of getting alone with God to pray. 00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:03.119 When they asked Jesus how to pray, he gave them a model to pray. 00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:10.400 And I don't know about you, but sometimes you may have heard the Lord's Prayer recited at a church service or maybe a funeral service. 00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:14.400 But it was meant to be an actual model of prayer. 00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:22.880 And when I was growing up, I learned an acronym called Acts, A C T S, which basically summarized the Lord's Prayer. 00:19:23.119 --> 00:19:28.960 And the A stands for adoration, where you just adore God and tell him how great he is. 00:19:29.279 --> 00:19:33.519 The T stands for thanksgiving, giving thanks for what God has done. 00:19:33.759 --> 00:19:38.319 The C in Acts stands for confession, confessing our sins to God. 00:19:38.559 --> 00:19:43.279 And the S is for supplication, where we make our requests known to God. 00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:52.960 And again, an important truth in this passage is that if we want God to respond to our interests, then we have to be devoted to His. 00:19:53.920 --> 00:19:59.359 1 John 5 14 says, This is the confidence we have in approaching God. 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:05.119 That if we ask for anything according to His will, He hears us. 00:20:06.079 --> 00:20:15.920 In James 4.3, when you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:24.319 And so the more that you and I are saturated in the Word, the more apt our prayers are to be heard and responded to. 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:29.519 Again, if you've been stuck in prayer, I just want to suggest just a couple things that might be helpful. 00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:31.519 One is index cards. 00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:35.519 And I would encourage you to just write down the names of people on these cards. 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:37.920 Maybe the first day you pray for your family. 00:20:38.160 --> 00:20:40.400 Maybe the second day you pray for your neighbors. 00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:43.680 The third day you pray for people who don't know the Lord. 00:20:43.839 --> 00:20:46.480 That can be a really helpful place to start. 00:20:46.799 --> 00:20:52.079 A couple years ago, my wife and I started a document called the Answered Prayer Document. 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:59.440 And I don't know why we stopped, but we would write down different prayers that we were praying for ourselves or our family or the church. 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:06.799 And we would go back months later and look at the prayers that we were praying and saw how incredible God answered those prayers. 00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:17.039 Not only did he answer those prayers, many of them, some of them he didn't answer the way that we wanted them to, but the way that he answered them was far better than we could ever think or imagine. 00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:25.359 And going back time and time again to those answered prayers was such an encouragement for my wife and I to continue to pray. 00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:28.960 Sometimes we need a kickstart to our prayer lives. 00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:40.640 And we're gonna talk about withdrawal in a couple weeks, but all I'll say about that is this sometimes in my marriage, it's really helpful for my wife and I just to get away together, whether it's on a trip or just a date night. 00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:43.359 That can kind of kickstart our marriage. 00:21:43.599 --> 00:21:45.519 And I think with God it's the same thing. 00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:49.839 Sometimes we need to just get away to kickstart our prayer lives. 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:58.240 When I was working with Inner Varsity, which is a college Christian campus ministry, we had what was called a silent retreat. 00:21:58.559 --> 00:21:59.759 And I don't know what that sounds like. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.720 Like to you, but to me, that sounded a little bit boring. 00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:12.240 And that the goal was that we would spend an entire day kind of by ourselves, yet sort of in community at times, praying to God and reading the Bible. 00:22:12.480 --> 00:22:17.119 And I gotta tell you that for the first hour, it was almost like I was gonna gouge my eyes out. 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:19.279 Like, what in the world am I gonna do here? 00:22:19.519 --> 00:22:21.039 This is so boring. 00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:27.680 But it was after that first hour that my mind kind of cleared up. 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:36.000 I was able to silence everything in me, and the word of God just was flooding into me as I was reading it, as I was thinking about it. 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:41.920 God gave me new and creative ideas, and it was really, really helpful and beneficial. 00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:47.279 A couple other things that you can try, maybe try walking in praying at the same time. 00:22:47.519 --> 00:22:49.519 Try praying aloud. 00:22:49.839 --> 00:22:51.839 Try a posture of kneeling. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:55.119 It puts us in a humble position before the Lord. 00:22:55.279 --> 00:22:57.680 It can help us concentrate as well. 00:22:58.400 --> 00:23:05.599 At the end of Mark chapter 1, we read that Jesus got up early and he went off by himself to pray. 00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:14.480 And you don't have to be a morning person, but the question is, what is it for you that is your best time of day to pray? 00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:16.799 Is it the first thing when you get up? 00:23:17.279 --> 00:23:19.279 Is it after you've had your first coffee? 00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:22.559 Is it after the kids have gone to school or the kids have gone to bed? 00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:29.119 What is that best time for you that you could sit down and make some time for the Lord? 00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:33.920 Do you have an inviting space or a certain chair in your house? 00:23:34.720 --> 00:23:41.759 There's simply nothing more important that you and I can do in our days than to spend meaningful time with Jesus. 00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:42.880 Think about it. 00:23:43.039 --> 00:23:53.279 The God who causes you and I to take our next breath, is there anything more important than we can do to spend time listening and talking with Him? 00:23:54.160 --> 00:24:00.240 And for some of us, this might take a real change in our schedules to make time to be alone with the Lord. 00:24:00.480 --> 00:24:06.160 Maybe we need to actually put it on our calendar as something that we don't let other things get in the way. 00:24:06.720 --> 00:24:08.799 Maybe we need to skip a meal. 00:24:09.119 --> 00:24:15.599 Maybe we need to cancel a meeting, but whatever we need to do, how can we make time to commune with Jesus? 00:24:16.880 --> 00:24:25.759 And as encouraging and as awesome as it sometimes is to have that time with the Lord, ultimately we have to get up from that time and go into the real world. 00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:27.839 And that's what happened with Jesus. 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:29.599 He was off praying by himself. 00:24:29.759 --> 00:24:33.119 His disciples come looking and they're all discouraged. 00:24:33.279 --> 00:24:34.480 They say, Jesus, where are you? 00:24:34.559 --> 00:24:37.200 There's people you need to see, there's people that need to be healed. 00:24:37.279 --> 00:24:38.720 What are you doing, Jesus? 00:24:38.880 --> 00:24:45.039 And Jesus gets up calmly and he says, Let us go to another town and preach. 00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:47.039 For that is why I've come. 00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:53.200 You see, Jesus knew his mission and his marching orders only after having spent time with God. 00:24:54.240 --> 00:25:03.759 And you and I, unless we kind of get our mission and marching orders for the day, we'll constantly be giving in to the demands of others and the tyranny of the urgent. 00:25:04.880 --> 00:25:12.400 And again, I wish I could stand up before you as a spiritual guru, someone who's just killing it when it comes to prayer and scripture reading. 00:25:12.640 --> 00:25:14.799 But that's not always the case for me. 00:25:15.279 --> 00:25:25.039 And sometimes for me, I know more of the holiness and the bigness and the grandeur of God than I do about his friendship and his intimacy. 00:25:26.240 --> 00:25:30.319 But I want you to know very simply today, God loves you. 00:25:31.200 --> 00:25:36.240 God loves you so incredibly much that he wants to spend time with you. 00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:48.079 God loves you so much that he was willing to send his son that he loved more than anything to this earth to live the perfect life and to die a death on a cross that you and I deserved. 00:25:48.240 --> 00:26:00.079 And God loved you so much that he wasn't willing that his son would stay buried in the grave, but on the third day Jesus rose from the dead and he defeated sin and death and hell and Satan. 00:26:00.319 --> 00:26:08.319 And he adopted you into a new family and he gave you a new mission and a new purpose and a new life that can start today. 00:26:09.599 --> 00:26:14.160 I'd be remiss if I didn't point out the warning that Jesus says in John 15. 00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:21.920 And that is that those branches who don't remain with Jesus will be cut off and ultimately burned. 00:26:22.799 --> 00:26:25.920 But we were appointed for better things, Orchard Hill. 00:26:26.319 --> 00:26:32.000 We were appointed to commune and abide with Jesus and bear fruit and fruit that will last. 00:26:33.200 --> 00:26:37.440 And you may not be sure of all this remaining or having quiet time with Jesus. 00:26:37.599 --> 00:26:40.000 It may seem like a waste of time for you. 00:26:40.319 --> 00:26:44.240 You may have never experienced fruitfulness or seen it in other people. 00:26:45.039 --> 00:26:50.960 But this only happens when we see and savor and spend time with Jesus. 00:26:51.200 --> 00:26:53.200 And that's what we're invited into. 00:26:53.920 --> 00:27:06.640 When you see just how much Jesus loves you and what he's done for you on the cross, when he saw you at your very worst and still died for you, how can we not be encouraged then to spend time with him? 00:27:07.279 --> 00:27:11.440 And again, I just want to close with a warning about these spiritual practices. 00:27:12.640 --> 00:27:24.480 You can read all the passages you want, you can spend hours of the day in prayer, you can journal all the time, memorize the whole New Testament, and then still walk in your own power and strength. 00:27:24.799 --> 00:27:29.519 These practices do not earn God's grace or his favor. 00:27:30.079 --> 00:27:36.799 And it's not the ideal execution of our spiritual practices that secure God's blessing and favor. 00:27:37.519 --> 00:27:39.759 It's what he did on the cross. 00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:47.039 And by the way, one of the most loving things that you can do for another person is to spend meaningful time with Jesus. 00:27:47.440 --> 00:27:54.319 Because it's often after we've spent meaningful time with Jesus that we have a better posture to love and serve other people. 00:27:55.359 --> 00:28:02.640 When I was in high school, I was challenged by my youth pastor, our entire youth group, was challenged to spend time with Jesus. 00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:15.039 And I don't know if he was teaching on John 15, but when he was done, he said, I'm asking you to get on your knees and commit to spending just 15 minutes a day praying to God and reading his word. 00:28:16.160 --> 00:28:23.119 And as I was pointed out, that's only one 96th of our day is just 15 minutes. 00:28:23.359 --> 00:28:39.119 And so I'm not going to ask you to get on your knees, but I would ask you just to consider what could that look like for you to start with just giving God 15 minutes a day where he could offer to you his direction, his counsel, and his word. 00:28:39.759 --> 00:28:42.720 Think about how that would change our communities. 00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:51.440 Think about that as we spend time with him, we'll experience a transformation that only happens after being connected with Jesus. 00:28:51.759 --> 00:28:57.279 Joe is going to come up and close with a song that encourages us to be still and to get away with God. 00:28:57.440 --> 00:29:00.559 But just imagine what our community would look like. 00:29:00.799 --> 00:29:10.960 Imagine what Wexford and the Strip District and Butler County would look like if we were a church that was committed to communing with Jesus on a daily basis. 00:29:11.519 --> 00:29:13.920 It could literally change the world. 00:29:14.160 --> 00:29:16.319 So let's pray that that might be so. 00:29:17.680 --> 00:29:25.119 Father God, it's incredible to us that not only do you exist, but you actually want to spend time with us. 00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:30.480 God, I pray that you would remind every person in this room just how much you love them. 00:29:31.200 --> 00:29:35.119 You love them enough that you are willing to send your son to die for us. 00:29:35.920 --> 00:29:38.319 Father God, you desire to spend time with us. 00:29:38.480 --> 00:29:42.079 Help us to commit to making time to spend time with you. 00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:44.240 God, show us what could that look like? 00:29:44.319 --> 00:29:52.799 What's the best part of our day that we could make time to hear from you, to remain in you, to abide in you. 00:29:53.599 --> 00:29:58.640 God, I pray that you would use that time to change our lives from the inside out. 00:29:59.200 --> 00:30:01.519 We ask and pray all this in Christ's name. 00:30:01.839 --> 00:30:02.240 Amen.