WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:01.439 We're gonna jump into God's word. 00:00:01.600 --> 00:00:03.600 We're starting a new series uh this week. 00:00:03.759 --> 00:00:05.120 We're calling all ears. 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:06.879 We're gonna talk about listening. 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:08.000 I think it's really important. 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:20.480 I think we live in a day where uh listening skills could probably be developed a little bit in all of us, uh me included, but I think all of us could learn how to listen a little better. 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:35.840 Feels like we're kind of people try to talk over each other a little bit right now and um interrupting, uh not even just in like one-on-one dialogue, but I just think culturally, you know, now that you can post stuff and it just feels loud. 00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:38.479 And and I don't know that we're we're listening well. 00:00:38.719 --> 00:00:41.759 Um and when you listen, some really good things happen. 00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:43.200 Uh you learn a lot. 00:00:43.359 --> 00:00:54.399 Uh you also, if you if you listen well, uh you grow in your affection for other people, your understanding, your empathy, just a lot of things that kind of make the world a better place. 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:56.079 So we're gonna we're gonna go into that. 00:00:56.159 --> 00:01:08.400 We're gonna look at listening to each other, we're gonna look at listening to ourselves, things in our own minds, and then we're gonna look at listening to God, which is where that's actually where we're gonna start is listening to God. 00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:18.319 Um, I I heard a a leadership talk a few years ago that just stuck with me, and I've referenced it many, many times over the years. 00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:19.920 Uh, and it was about listening. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:24.560 It was a woman named Sheila Heen who wrote a book called Thanks for the Feedback. 00:01:24.799 --> 00:01:35.920 And uh Sheila Heen was a corporate trainer, goes around to companies and businesses, teaching people how to have better conflict and how to how to do feedback better. 00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:46.319 And so when she first started doing it, she mentioned that um all of the coaching and training that they did was helping people get better at delivering feedback. 00:01:46.560 --> 00:01:50.640 So they taught that um uh feedback sandwich. 00:01:50.799 --> 00:01:52.159 You you know what I'm talking about? 00:01:52.319 --> 00:01:55.680 It's like you got you got the bun, the bun, and the meat, you know what I'm saying? 00:01:55.840 --> 00:02:03.680 And it's like the first top bun is like compliments, and you're like, you're doing so awesome, and I just think you're great, and affirm you. 00:02:03.840 --> 00:02:05.519 I just want you to be affirm today. 00:02:06.079 --> 00:02:09.520 Then the meat, it's like, but here's where you're not doing good. 00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:14.319 You know, here's what I really want to talk to you about, and then you end with like, but you're so great. 00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:20.719 Um that sandwich used to work until they taught it, now everybody knows it. 00:02:21.439 --> 00:02:31.680 Okay, and so like if you've had somebody come to you and they come with a compliment, you're like, what do you really want to talk about? 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:37.840 Okay, okay, somebody comes at me with compliments, I'm like, hey, how about we do this burger with no bun? 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:40.560 I mean, let's make it a lettuce wrap. 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:42.560 All right, come right out, but just give it to me. 00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:43.280 Like, what do you want? 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:44.319 What do you really want to talk about? 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:45.680 Don't patronize me. 00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:48.000 Uh so you're trying to soften me up to be receptive. 00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:48.639 I'm receptive. 00:02:48.719 --> 00:02:50.159 All right, come on, come on, let's have it. 00:02:50.400 --> 00:03:04.560 Um so they they tried to train people to give it better, and what they found over time is that the success of the feedback was almost completely determined by the receptivity of the listener. 00:03:05.199 --> 00:03:08.319 All the power is in the hand of the listener. 00:03:08.479 --> 00:03:26.560 Like if you had somebody give you the most skilled feedback ever, and you got defensive, or all you could think about is, well, you're not perfect either, okay, and you put up a wall, it doesn't matter how skilled the delivery was, you don't get it. 00:03:26.639 --> 00:03:29.599 You don't get anything out of it, you can shut it down. 00:03:29.919 --> 00:03:50.080 On the other side of that, if somebody came to you with the most clunky, awkward, direct, unskilled feedback ever, and you were a skilled listener, you'd be able to sift through all of the junk and get to the gold nugget, which actually is kind of the beginning of like even your attitude toward feedback. 00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:50.960 Is this helpful? 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:59.599 Am I looking at this as a gift, as gold, or am I looking at this as something I gotta be defensive against? 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:03.360 So I just when she said that it really resonated with me. 00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:16.879 It made me search my own heart and shape my own attitude around the power of listening and being receptive is even more important than how well they said it is how well I can receive it and how well I can listen. 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:25.439 We're gonna talk about listening to God today, which let's just be honest, it's confusing, it's not super clear. 00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:29.439 Sometimes, church folk, you know, they they make it over simple. 00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:32.879 You know, hey, I'm trying to, I mean, I just don't know what to do in this situation. 00:04:33.040 --> 00:04:33.680 What should I do? 00:04:33.839 --> 00:04:35.279 Well, have you prayed about it? 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:37.360 Yeah, yeah, I did pray about it. 00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:39.040 What'd the Lord say? 00:04:40.079 --> 00:04:41.120 I don't know, man. 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:42.399 I'm trying to figure that out. 00:04:42.560 --> 00:04:43.279 You know, I don't know. 00:04:43.360 --> 00:04:46.240 I've been like looking in the clouds, I didn't see anything, you know. 00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:47.040 I don't know. 00:04:47.199 --> 00:04:49.680 Well, I mean, I didn't hear an audible voice. 00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:51.120 Like, what do you mean? 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:54.720 And let's be honest, there is a tendency to miscommunicate. 00:04:54.959 --> 00:04:58.000 Okay, my wife and I both speak the same language. 00:04:58.160 --> 00:04:59.279 We both speak English. 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:04.800 I know the nuances of her face, I know what this wrinkle in her forehead, I know exactly what that means. 00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:06.480 I know exactly what that means. 00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:08.639 I know what it means when she doesn't say anything at all. 00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:10.639 I know what the pregnant pause means. 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:12.079 I know all of that, okay? 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:20.800 So body language is part of communication, eyes are part of communication, all of it is part of it, and we and we miscommunicate with each other who we're with all the time. 00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:27.920 How much more, God, who we're not necessarily looking at his eyes or his forehead, or we're his body language, how much are we gonna miscommunicate? 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:29.839 There is it is gonna happen. 00:05:30.079 --> 00:05:32.800 That that being said, it's not hopeless. 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:50.399 Okay, we I want us to take an approach to hearing from God that sits in the tension of the fact that this is a mystical thing, that this is a supernatural thing, but at the same time, there is logic to it. 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:57.439 And we can sort of understand the parts of it uh a little bit better that will help us to become more receptive. 00:05:57.600 --> 00:06:04.240 And so, this message, I'm just gonna tell you, this is not a rah-rah message, this is not a fire you up message, get one for the Gipper message. 00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:06.639 This is really, really, really practical. 00:06:06.800 --> 00:06:10.959 And we're gonna so we're gonna start uh this conversation today. 00:06:11.199 --> 00:06:15.279 Um, I I was recently uh in Washington, D.C. 00:06:15.519 --> 00:06:17.199 Shayla and I were there a couple weeks ago. 00:06:17.360 --> 00:06:20.240 We spent some time with actually uh some friends of ours. 00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:25.600 Uh part of where we helped work on this church planning thing together, a guy by the name of Mark Batterson. 00:06:25.839 --> 00:06:28.480 Uh he and his wife Laura are friends of Shayla and I. 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:30.160 We were there, we spent some time together. 00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:34.000 And Mark wrote, he's written several books, but he wrote a book called Whisper. 00:06:34.240 --> 00:06:39.920 And the book Whisper, the entire book is about listening to God, the languages of God. 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:46.959 And um actually Mark and I shot, like I just did like a 20-minute QA with him. 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:49.040 We made a video, I'm gonna put it online this week. 00:06:49.120 --> 00:06:53.680 I hope it'll be a good resource and help you, uh, but be looking for that if you like this topic. 00:06:53.839 --> 00:07:00.480 Uh, if you are interested in how do I discern the voice of God better, I would encourage you to get his book, Whisper. 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:02.319 Uh I I listened to it. 00:07:02.399 --> 00:07:04.639 All right, I do a lot of auto audio books. 00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:12.319 Uh I listen to it, and I just want to be upfront and clear because I know we've got some cynical uh folks that come to 11:30, not 10 o'clock. 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:13.120 11:30. 00:07:13.199 --> 00:07:14.240 There are a few cynical folks. 00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:15.519 I feel like I need to say this. 00:07:15.680 --> 00:07:18.959 Um, there is no G Ford promo code, okay? 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:20.720 I get no kickback from the book. 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:24.720 I get nothing other than the satisfaction that I help somebody. 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:26.639 I read the book, it really helped me. 00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:28.240 I can highly recommend it to you. 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:29.759 Book is called Whisper. 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:34.399 Uh, in the book, he outlines seven things uh that are ways that God speaks. 00:07:34.639 --> 00:07:39.279 And today we're not gonna talk about all seven, but we're gonna talk about one and how it affects the other six. 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:41.519 Uh, the first one is scripture. 00:07:41.839 --> 00:07:43.600 God speaks through scripture. 00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:51.360 Uh, the next one is desires, which can be tricky because you're like, well, this desire I have, is this me? 00:07:51.519 --> 00:07:53.920 Is this my flesh, or is this a God-given desire? 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:55.199 He talks about that in the book. 00:07:55.360 --> 00:07:56.800 Doors, which is another one. 00:07:56.959 --> 00:07:58.319 Okay, door opens. 00:07:58.399 --> 00:07:59.680 God, is this your will? 00:07:59.920 --> 00:08:06.639 Okay, because an open door could be an opportunity, but it could be a distraction, or it could be a temptation. 00:08:06.879 --> 00:08:08.160 So, what about doors? 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:10.480 But God does use doors and dreams. 00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:11.839 Oh man, that's a tricky one. 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:15.120 If you ever had a dream, you wake up, you're like, but what could it mean? 00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:17.439 You know, you wake up, you're like, I don't know, man. 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:22.079 Like, there was this like river running through my house, you know, and then I did this, and I don't know, man. 00:08:22.160 --> 00:08:25.199 It's like, you know, this there was like a dog talking, you know. 00:08:25.279 --> 00:08:26.160 I don't know. 00:08:27.600 --> 00:08:29.279 People is the next one. 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:30.000 That's a big one. 00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:34.399 God uses people, but how do I discern uh promptings? 00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:40.240 And the last one is pain. 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:47.679 I want to I want to start, and this is where we're gonna spend our time today, is looking uh at the scripture. 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:55.840 Um I think it's really important the way that we frame our relationship to the Bible. 00:08:57.279 --> 00:09:05.440 The Bible's big, it's 66 books, written by various authors, lots of different contexts, written over thousands of years. 00:09:05.679 --> 00:09:07.679 It can be a bit overwhelming. 00:09:07.919 --> 00:09:13.039 And sometimes as a Christian or a follower of Jesus, you're like, you know, I don't want to be ignorant. 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:22.799 So we we kind of take this academic approach to the Bible, which is in a sense appropriate because I want to learn as much as I can from an academic standpoint. 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:34.080 But the Bible is not a textbook alone, it is actually also a text message, it's a communication tool that God uses. 00:09:34.559 --> 00:09:45.600 It says in 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17, all scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true, to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:58.879 That in real time in 2022, I'm trying to figure out what's wrong in my life, or I'm trying to find out what is true, that the Bible, inspired by God, is useful or relevant to help me do that in real time. 00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:00.960 It corrects us when we're wrong. 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:08.240 Hey, I know you're a grown-up, I know you're mature, I know you don't want anybody summoning you, uh, but there are times that we all need correction. 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:10.480 Come on, let's be humble enough to admit that. 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:11.600 We need correction. 00:10:11.679 --> 00:10:16.320 All of us, all of us, grandma, grandpa need correction, mom and dad need correction. 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:17.519 Everybody needs correction. 00:10:17.600 --> 00:10:31.039 And sometimes you may struggle to receive it from other people, but what if you were in your Bible, you came across something, the Holy Spirit illuminated, and it brought to your attention, not for the purpose of shame, but for the purpose of correction. 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:35.440 And you walk away going, the Lord spoke to me today, I gotta make this change. 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:41.200 And so 2 Timothy 3 says, the Bible will correct us, it teaches us what is right. 00:10:41.360 --> 00:10:44.480 And then look at this, verse 17 says, God uses it. 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:49.519 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:55.200 God uses the Bible to speak to you about the work that he has for you to do. 00:10:55.519 --> 00:10:59.519 Hebrews 4 12 says this, the word of God is alive and active. 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:02.159 It's not just a textbook, it's a text message. 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:06.000 It's not just a classroom, it's a conversation. 00:11:06.320 --> 00:11:12.320 He said it's sharper than a two-edged sword, it penetrates into our dividing soul and spirit and joints and marrow. 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:13.039 And look at this. 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:16.720 It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 00:11:16.879 --> 00:11:19.679 It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:25.440 As you're in God's word and you're calibrating to his heart, your your attitudes can be exposed. 00:11:25.600 --> 00:11:27.600 Ah, my attitude needs to change. 00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:30.159 My attitude, my heart needs to change. 00:11:30.559 --> 00:11:33.039 And so this is what the Bible does for us. 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:36.960 God uses the Bible in that way in conversation. 00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:45.039 Um, there's a rabbinic tradition that says every word of the Bible has 70 faces and 600,000 meanings. 00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:46.879 Okay, don't take that literally. 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:48.240 It's it's hyperbolic. 00:11:48.399 --> 00:12:04.000 Okay, it's not it's not literally 70, every one of them has 70, but the concept being this that the the scripture has a way of God speaking very specifically through it, and it doesn't just say the exact thing that you know to everybody every season. 00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:20.639 Like, for example, you may be reading a scripture today, and God will speak something to you based on where you're at in life, based on how mature you are, based on what information you could even accept today, and might be situational. 00:12:20.879 --> 00:12:28.720 Ten years from now, you read the same scripture, and the Lord brings a dimension to it in your mind that you didn't see ten years ago. 00:12:28.960 --> 00:12:35.120 This is why we never, ever, ever, ever develop a been there, done that attitude about the Bible. 00:12:35.360 --> 00:12:37.200 Checkbox, did that, okay. 00:12:37.279 --> 00:12:38.399 Yep, I know that one. 00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:39.120 I know that. 00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:47.759 No, you come back to it with an open heart and let the Holy Spirit illuminate something because you might be ready for something you couldn't have seen five years ago. 00:12:47.919 --> 00:12:50.240 You've lived, you've lived five years, man. 00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:51.919 You've been through some stuff, ma'am. 00:12:52.080 --> 00:12:59.919 You've walked through something, you're a different human, and so God speaking the same word to a different person, you're not the same person you were. 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:02.720 And so, so you gotta be open to that. 00:13:02.799 --> 00:13:04.080 Okay, how do we do this? 00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:08.159 Uh, I I shared this uh technique called Lexio Divina. 00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:11.279 I did this a couple years ago, but some things are worth bringing back up. 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:12.879 I want to bring this back up to you. 00:13:12.960 --> 00:13:20.159 This is a process that if you'll apply this consistently, uh it opens up a conversation with God. 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:25.519 It gives God an opportunity to get a word in edgewise or to illuminate some things in your mind and heart. 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:31.200 So it's five questions as you're reading through the scripture that will help this become conversational. 00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:34.080 The first is it starts with this. 00:13:34.240 --> 00:13:38.320 What does the text, what does the text say? 00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:42.159 What does the text say? 00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:46.240 Who's writing this book? 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:48.000 And who are they writing it to? 00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:50.879 And what's what what is the context? 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:52.080 This is really important. 00:13:52.159 --> 00:13:53.919 This is why I would encourage you. 00:13:54.559 --> 00:14:04.320 There's nothing wrong with getting verse of the day, you know, Bible app or whatever you're on, and it sort of throws you a verse of the day, okay, Isaiah such and such, Psalm this, Ecclesiastes that. 00:14:04.399 --> 00:14:05.440 That's great. 00:14:06.960 --> 00:14:19.759 But if you don't really understand the context, you could grab a verse and think it means something it doesn't mean if you knew the whole context. 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:23.919 For example, if I just showed up in your life tomorrow at 3 p.m. 00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:28.879 and I listened to three sentences of your day, at 3 p.m. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:38.320 tomorrow, I might draw a conclusion about what you said and what you meant and who you are and what that means for me, that you would say, Well, you didn't hear what I said this morning. 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:40.720 No, you don't understand this conversation we were having. 00:14:40.799 --> 00:14:42.399 This was our eighth conversation. 00:14:42.639 --> 00:14:43.919 It's not our first one. 00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:49.279 We we've been talking about this eight times, so I'm talking different than it is, but I might draw all kinds of conclusions, not knowing context. 00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:59.200 Ever walk in, somebody in your family's watching a show, they're watching something, it means very little to you, or you just take you don't know the characters, you don't know what happened last season, you don't know. 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:05.279 So I would encourage you to develop a systematic plan of studying the Bible. 00:15:05.440 --> 00:15:08.240 For example, read through James. 00:15:08.960 --> 00:15:11.600 And don't just plunge into James 1. 00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:19.759 Go figure out who in the world is James and who's he writing to and what's going on. 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:26.720 And don't just jump in to James 3, because James 1 and 2 has something to say about James 3. 00:15:27.039 --> 00:15:31.360 You'd read James 3 differently knowing what was said in the first two chapters. 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:43.679 So to make space in your life for a systematic approach, because I'm going to tell you, I think some of the really warped thinking comes from people who isolate a scripture really knowing not much. 00:15:44.559 --> 00:15:51.759 And so they know just enough to be dangerous, just enough to yell it at folks, and become jerks for Jesus. 00:15:56.720 --> 00:15:58.000 Ever met one of those? 00:15:58.159 --> 00:16:01.840 You're like, I don't know if it's I don't know if that's what he meant by that. 00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:07.200 So you you you you you don't want to fall into that. 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:09.200 You don't want to fall into that. 00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:20.080 And and and this is how we keep ourselves safeguarded from just falling into our presuppositions or our confirmation bias, is we we study it first. 00:16:20.159 --> 00:16:21.759 We study, we have to know the context. 00:16:21.919 --> 00:16:23.039 So what does the text say? 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:26.960 The second is what does the text say? 00:16:28.559 --> 00:16:30.720 What does the text say to me? 00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:38.159 Okay, so now that I know it in its proper context, what is this, what is it saying to me? 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:39.600 Let it talk to you. 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:43.200 First is reading, the second is meditating. 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:47.200 Little side note, and I hope this message is just nothing but encouraging. 00:16:47.279 --> 00:16:57.279 So I don't want to do, I'm not trying to discourage you, but I want to caution you from creating aggressive quantitative reading goals, Bible reading goals. 00:16:57.360 --> 00:16:59.679 I'm gonna read through the I'm gonna read through the Bible before June. 00:16:59.759 --> 00:17:02.159 I'm gonna read, I'm gonna get there, I'm gonna come come hell or high water. 00:17:02.240 --> 00:17:07.039 I'm gonna read 17 chapters a day and I will get through the but it's like calm down. 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:09.920 It's 66, but it's a lot, it's a lot. 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:19.839 And if you read it like that, to just get to the finish line as fast as you can, you're you might miss the chance to slow down enough to have it read you. 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:24.400 Slow down. 00:17:24.960 --> 00:17:31.440 You you might spend a minute reading, and you might spend an hour listening. 00:17:32.160 --> 00:17:38.079 And you might, by the end of that hour, just begin the listening process because I've started to listen. 00:17:38.319 --> 00:17:39.359 God, what are you saying to me? 00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:44.160 And God may open a conversation with you that doesn't open and shut in the same day. 00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:46.720 And and I'm telling you, this is the deep learning. 00:17:47.440 --> 00:17:49.359 Deep, deep learning. 00:17:49.680 --> 00:17:54.640 Because this is going from just academic to transformational renewing of the mind. 00:17:54.880 --> 00:17:55.839 God speaking. 00:17:56.000 --> 00:17:56.720 This is divine. 00:17:56.799 --> 00:18:03.839 Listen, let's not reverse engineer it and and and take it apart so much that we miss the divine nature of it. 00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:05.519 We got to sit in that tension. 00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:10.079 Understanding the logic, but at the same time letting God do a supernatural work. 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:13.279 So, what does the text say to me that's meditating on it? 00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:20.400 The third is is is praying through the text, which is is is um, what do I want to say to God? 00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:25.119 What do I want to say to God? 00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:28.319 So this is this is prayer. 00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:31.359 So I read it in its proper context. 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:36.240 I thought about what is speaking to me, and now I pray something. 00:18:36.400 --> 00:18:38.240 God, I got something to say to you now. 00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:48.000 And then after that, there's a fourth, which is contemplation, which is what does God want to say to me? 00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:50.559 Let him talk back to you. 00:18:51.359 --> 00:18:56.240 And then the fifth is action, which is what should I do? 00:18:56.480 --> 00:18:57.599 What do I do now? 00:18:57.920 --> 00:19:00.640 Because we want to be doers of the word, not just hearers. 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:03.680 So here's an aiming point. 00:19:04.720 --> 00:19:17.279 I think every good message, I think every good scripture, I think every good Lectio divina, every time with the Lord will lead you to changing the way you think, or changing the way you act, or both. 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:21.599 And sometimes the Lord may just start with how you think. 00:19:21.680 --> 00:19:23.599 I want you to begin thinking differently. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:26.559 And sometimes it may be a brand new thought. 00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:28.160 I've never thought like this before. 00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:30.079 I'm gonna start thinking this way. 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:36.799 But sometimes God uses it to recalibrate you to something you already know, but you've veered away from. 00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:38.960 The current of life's pulled you away. 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:39.839 You know better. 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:58.319 And sometimes through the word and through contemplating and meditating and praying and reading and all of this, the Lord's like, remember that, and you're like, by his rod and his staff, he pulls you back in line, and you get right back to realigning yourself with God's word and God's values and God's truth. 00:19:58.559 --> 00:20:05.440 But sometimes it's a brand new thought, and sometimes connected to those thoughts and beliefs are now new behaviors. 00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:06.160 What do I do? 00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:08.000 Hey, don't read so fast. 00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:11.200 Okay, the you read the coffee cup verse, take a sip, cool. 00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:12.640 All right, let's go check box. 00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:13.279 I'm going to work. 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:14.000 No, no, no. 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:16.480 Take the time to wrestle it all the way to the ground. 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:18.559 What do I need to reshape my thinking? 00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:21.279 What do I need to change in my doing? 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:31.279 I want to show you uh, this is something from just this is my from my personal time with the Lord, how God used this in a specific way in my life. 00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:36.319 So I'm gonna take you through a Lexio Divina, I I actually did a while ago. 00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:36.880 Okay? 00:20:37.440 --> 00:20:40.319 Um, to set this up, the what does the text say? 00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:43.200 I'll tell you about another resource, the Bible Project. 00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:46.160 If you go to YouTube, it's this new website, it's called YouTube. 00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:47.519 They got lots of videos. 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:50.799 You go on there, lots of them are worthless, but there are some that are really good. 00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:52.960 And there's this thing called the Bible Project. 00:20:53.039 --> 00:21:00.160 They take every single book of the Bible and they give you a summary and an outline, and they do drawings and pictures. 00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:02.240 So, I mean, it's it's incredible. 00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:04.799 If you're not using this resource, you're missing out. 00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:08.960 I beg you, when as you're reading the Bible, go and use this. 00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:12.319 Go to these, uh go go go watch these videos. 00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:15.519 One I'm gonna share with you is from the book of Colossians. 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:18.000 Colossians, I'm gonna show you one minute. 00:21:18.160 --> 00:21:21.359 Okay, it's a nine-minute video, but I'm gonna show you in one minute. 00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:25.119 Okay, so if you don't know anything about Colossians, you're about to learn a bunch. 00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:26.880 In one minute, one minute. 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:28.160 Check this out. 00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:32.160 Paul's letter to the Colossians. 00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:38.079 It was written during one of Paul the Apostle's many imprisonments for announcing Jesus as the risen Lord. 00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:44.720 And the letter is addressed to a group of people that Paul had never met who made up a church community that he didn't start. 00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:51.119 This church in Colossae was started by a co-worker of Paul's named Epiphras, who was actually from that city. 00:21:51.279 --> 00:22:02.720 And Epiphras had recently visited Paul in prison, and he updated him on how well the Colossians were doing overall, but he also mentioned some of the cultural Pressures, tempting them to turn away from Jesus. 00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:11.839 And so Paul wrote this letter to encourage the Colossians to address the issues that Eprephus had raised and then to challenge them to a greater devotion to Jesus. 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:15.039 The letter's design and flow of thought are pretty easy to follow. 00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:18.720 The opening movement focuses on Jesus as the exalted Messiah. 00:22:18.880 --> 00:22:23.680 Paul then goes on to show how his suffering in prison is for the exalted Jesus. 00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:28.240 And then he addresses the pressures tempting the Colossians to turn away from Jesus. 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:33.839 After this, he explores the new way of life that Jesus' resurrection opened up for them. 00:22:35.839 --> 00:22:36.720 Incredible resource. 00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:38.000 That's a nine-minute video. 00:22:38.079 --> 00:22:39.119 You saw one minute of it. 00:22:39.279 --> 00:22:45.839 If you kept watching, you would know enough about Colossians to begin digging in and kind of working on that first one. 00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:47.680 What does the text say? 00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:49.680 Every book. 00:22:49.839 --> 00:22:53.119 Ecclesiastes, Psalms, Daniel. 00:22:53.279 --> 00:22:54.480 Oh, what a resource. 00:22:54.720 --> 00:22:56.400 Please, please, I beg of you. 00:22:56.720 --> 00:22:57.279 Use it. 00:22:57.519 --> 00:22:58.079 Alright? 00:22:59.200 --> 00:23:00.079 Colossians. 00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:03.200 So I go, I'm going to study Colossians in my own time. 00:23:03.680 --> 00:23:05.359 Let the Lord work in my heart. 00:23:05.599 --> 00:23:06.880 Ask the Lord to speak to me. 00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:08.079 So I go to Colossians. 00:23:08.240 --> 00:23:17.279 One of the things that I noticed in my study of Colossians before I started reading Colossians is that Paul wrote this letter to people he didn't know. 00:23:17.519 --> 00:23:18.960 He had never met them before. 00:23:19.119 --> 00:23:26.799 Which just reading the context of the book in it quickened my heart because it's something I've been struggling with. 00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:31.920 Okay, I grew up in a church, it was a small church, everybody knew everybody, the pastor knew everybody. 00:23:32.160 --> 00:23:35.839 Pastor was meeting everybody's needs, running around doing this, doing that, doing the other thing. 00:23:35.920 --> 00:23:38.160 And our church, that it's different context. 00:23:38.240 --> 00:23:39.039 Our church has grown. 00:23:39.119 --> 00:23:40.319 We have four services. 00:23:40.480 --> 00:23:41.200 We have a lot of people. 00:23:41.279 --> 00:23:50.640 So I am now, uh we have people online, people literally all over the country, uh, who are giving me the uh opportunity and the responsibility to be their pastor, but I don't know them. 00:23:50.799 --> 00:23:57.519 So I'm in the weird position that I'm pastoring and leading people I I don't know and I haven't met, and I can't keep up with it, and I can't meet everybody. 00:23:57.599 --> 00:24:03.759 So I've been in this feeling of angst, like I've been struggling, because I'm like, man, what how do I do this well? 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:10.880 Because I don't want to be the limit on the church where I go try to run around and you know, I'm not human beings are not scalable. 00:24:11.039 --> 00:24:17.759 So if I run around, try to do everything and know everybody and meet everybody's need and be there and do all the teaching and all the counseling and all of this and all the. 00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:20.720 If I do that, you burn yourself out, you can't do it. 00:24:20.880 --> 00:24:30.319 Uh so you got to delegate and train and raise up infrastructure and do all this stuff, which is tough, but then it's weird as a pastor because you're like, but man, I I I want to do this right. 00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:33.119 I want to serve people, I want to have the right heart. 00:24:33.279 --> 00:24:34.000 You know what I mean? 00:24:34.160 --> 00:24:38.000 I didn't go to I didn't go to Bible school to be a CEO. 00:24:38.319 --> 00:24:41.200 I went there to be a pastor, and how do I do this right? 00:24:41.359 --> 00:24:44.240 So I've been I've been wrestling with this, and I come across Colossians. 00:24:44.319 --> 00:24:48.079 Paul's writing this letter, he's pastoring people who he doesn't know. 00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:50.240 I'm all ears, I'm all ears. 00:24:50.319 --> 00:24:51.359 I'm like, Lord, what are you gonna say? 00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:54.799 Oh now I get my heart starts doing this because I'm like, God's about to speak to me. 00:24:54.960 --> 00:25:03.039 So now I open up Colossians 1, I start reading verse 3, says, Um, we always pray for you and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:19.920 By the way, if you didn't know context and you just read that, we always pray for you and we give thanks to God, and you didn't know he's writing this to people he knows of, but he doesn't actually know, it wouldn't mean the same thing to you. 00:25:20.160 --> 00:25:24.640 Just knowing that little fact opens your mind up in a different way. 00:25:24.880 --> 00:25:26.079 So I started thinking about that. 00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:31.279 So here's what now was the text say to me, and what does God want to say to me and all this? 00:25:32.640 --> 00:25:39.039 Now the question comes in my mind, Greg, how much are you praying for these people you don't know? 00:25:41.119 --> 00:25:42.880 Are you even really praying for them? 00:25:44.319 --> 00:25:45.119 I had to think about that. 00:25:45.200 --> 00:25:46.640 I'm like, you know, I really don't. 00:25:47.440 --> 00:25:56.240 I was praying, I pray for my wife, and I pray for my kids, and I pray for my family, and I pray for our staff, and I pray for my friends who are going through a hard time. 00:25:56.640 --> 00:26:01.599 And when somebody tells me about their problem and I say, I'm gonna pray for you, I actually do. 00:26:01.920 --> 00:26:03.039 It's not a placeholder. 00:26:03.119 --> 00:26:04.240 I'm like praying for you, bro. 00:26:04.400 --> 00:26:07.119 No, if I tell you I'm praying for you, I'm going to pray for you. 00:26:08.319 --> 00:26:11.920 But what about these people in other places who I've never even seen? 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:13.519 I'll probably never come in contact with. 00:26:13.680 --> 00:26:14.799 Am I praying for them? 00:26:15.920 --> 00:26:25.200 So the fact that Paul was praying for people he didn't know, spoke to me. 00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:27.599 The text spoke to me. 00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:38.160 So he says, I pray for you and I give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for we've heard of your faith in Christ and your love for all of God's people. 00:26:38.319 --> 00:26:46.480 Paul was encouraged and inspired by the stories and by the testimonies of what God was doing through people he didn't even know. 00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:49.359 God's speaking to me through that text. 00:26:49.599 --> 00:26:50.720 Verse 6. 00:26:51.279 --> 00:26:54.400 The same good news that came to you is going out all over the world. 00:26:54.559 --> 00:26:55.279 Now think about this. 00:26:55.440 --> 00:27:00.319 Paul's writing this in a time where proliferating the gospel came through very slow means. 00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:06.880 It was happening on foot, it was happening on ship, it was happening riding a camel, it was it was a slow thing. 00:27:07.039 --> 00:27:13.440 And yet he was it was the beginning of the fulfillment of Acts 1.8 that the you'll receive power, the Holy Spirit will come upon you. 00:27:13.519 --> 00:27:15.920 You'll go to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria to the ends of the earth. 00:27:16.079 --> 00:27:19.599 And so Paul is just beginning to experience this and to taste this. 00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:26.480 And so I thought about what that must have been like for him to take something that was so concentrated in Jerusalem and to seeing it go into the ends of the earth. 00:27:26.720 --> 00:27:28.880 And he said, We ask God, oh, let me back up. 00:27:29.039 --> 00:27:33.039 So so he so he I'm thinking about Paul doing that, but then I'm thinking about the joy. 00:27:33.200 --> 00:27:45.359 I'm thinking, you know what, take, don't, don't get so frustrated at the fact that this is so out of your control that you don't take joy in the fact that the gospel is proliferating, that it's going places and doing things that you can't see. 00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:53.519 And then he says this uh in the next part, he said, we ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. 00:27:53.680 --> 00:27:58.079 I'd read that in other seasons and I didn't hear what I heard this time, which was it. 00:27:58.240 --> 00:28:01.440 We ask God, we ask God to give you complete knowledge. 00:28:01.680 --> 00:28:04.000 We ask God to give you complete knowledge. 00:28:04.160 --> 00:28:12.640 We we ask God to do what God does for you instead of us trying to do God's job for you. 00:28:12.799 --> 00:28:14.079 We do our job, God does it. 00:28:14.160 --> 00:28:17.599 He goes, and we ask God, God, God, would you give complete knowledge? 00:28:17.759 --> 00:28:19.440 Would you give wisdom and understanding? 00:28:19.599 --> 00:28:22.319 Okay, what am I gonna pray for these people who I don't even know? 00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:26.400 I'm talking to somebody right now who I don't know but is listening right now. 00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:27.680 What would I pray for that person? 00:28:27.759 --> 00:28:28.319 Would I pray? 00:28:28.480 --> 00:28:29.920 God, God, would you? 00:28:30.400 --> 00:28:33.039 You it's it's not about me. 00:28:33.759 --> 00:28:38.720 God starts speaking to me, going, Hey Greg, I was doing pretty good before you got here. 00:28:40.799 --> 00:28:43.119 I'll do just fine after you're gone. 00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:49.279 We're gonna partner together for a season, but don't get it twisted of what's yours to do and what's mine to do. 00:28:49.519 --> 00:28:54.559 So I pray, Lord, would you give them wisdom and not God, would you lead them according to your word? 00:28:54.799 --> 00:28:57.680 God, when they're in your word, would you speak through your God? 00:28:57.759 --> 00:28:58.559 Would you talk to them? 00:28:58.640 --> 00:29:01.440 Lord, Lord, would you give them what they need when they need it, Lord? 00:29:01.680 --> 00:29:07.359 And so Paul is praying this prayer incessantly for these people, asking God, asking God. 00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:13.599 And what's he doing is he's asking God to do this, he's also calibrating his own mind and heart to know what's his role and what's not. 00:29:13.759 --> 00:29:21.680 Okay, and so so then he says, Um uh, you know, we you I'm sorry, verse six. 00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:29.200