July 11 Be Still God Is Working

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Good morning. Happy Saturday. This is our current Let's Pray. Ministry is full of energy this morning. Let's give God some praise this morning. Let's give God some glory this morning because it's Saturday and God is good all the time. And all the time God is good. Amen. Today, our episode is going to be talking about be still. God is already working it out. Amen. As always, I welcome you all to Walker. Let's pray. I'm so thankful and grateful that you joined me today. Wherever you're listening from, I pray that these next few moments become a place of peace for your heart. And maybe you're sitting on your porch with a cup of coffee. And maybe you're out doing a walk. Maybe you're cleaning the house, running errands, or trying to catch up on everything you didn't get finished this week? Isn't that what Saturday often become? Running all week for work and kids, and then Saturday comes, you got to catch up on what you didn't do through the week. Amen. We tell ourselves it's just our day to rest, and then we fill every hour with something to do. Can I ask you all a question? When was the last time you were truly still? Not scrolling on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, not answering messages, not making another list, just being still. I know that's not easy. I know it. The world tells us to keep on moving, keep on pushing, keep on producing, keep on achieving, keep on going. But today, I feel like God is saying we could do something different. Because it said in this word, Psalms 46 and 10, be still and know that I am God. That's a short verse. Amen. And may the Lord have a blessing of the hearing and the reading and the doing of his word. I want you to notice what God said. He doesn't say be busy, figure everything out, control every situation. He said be still. Not because life is easy, but because he is God. Amen. I want you to know waiting isn't wasting. Sometimes waiting is where God does his deepest work. And I want to be honest with you all for a moment. Being still doesn't come naturally for me. I know that's a shock, but it is true. Sometimes I think I'm not doing something, then I'm falling behind. And maybe you know you felt that way too. We live in a culture that celebrates busyness and distractions. But sometimes God is just saying, it's okay to sit on the couch. It's okay to put the phone down. It's okay to rest. Amen. Let me ask you all a question. When was the last time you took one hour just to sit in silence to just breathe? We've become so busy doing everything under the world in the world except doing what God has called us to do. Jesus never seemed rushed. Think about that. He had the greatest mission in history, right? Yet he stopped for people, he noticed people, he rested, he prayed, he slipped away to quiet places to be with our Father. Luke and 5 and 16 tells us, but Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Not once, not occasionally, but often. Amen. If Jesus needed quiet moments with his father, our father, how much more do we need? Sometimes I think we expect God a shadow of the noise in our lives, but maybe he's whispering. And the only reason we don't hear him is because everything else is louder than him. Amen. We have to learn how to just be still. Let me tell you all a story. I remember standing in my kitchen one Saturday morning a while ago. The laundry was waiting, the dishes were stacked up, my phone kept buzzing. I had a list that seemed a matter long of chores to do and urns to run. And I remember saying, Lord, I don't even know where to start. Lord, you're gonna have to help me. And you know what I sensed in my heart that moment in my spirit. It started with me. Start with me. Don't start with the laundry, don't start with the schedule, don't start with the emails, and gotta go to Krog's and Sam's. But how about you start with you? Everything else can wait because when you're broken down, you can't have nobody else, right? So this is why it's so important to take care of ourself, to self-love on ourselves, right? The work is still gonna be there, Krog's ain't going nowhere. It's okay to take care of you, it's okay to just be still in God's presence, to say, God, start with me today. What do I need to work on with me today? How can I be a better person all the way around for you to get the glory, oh God? We want to be better people, we want to be better Christians, we want to be better mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers and uncles and aunts, right? So, how do you do that? Being in God's presence. Just being in God's presence will change everything. Can I ask you a question? You know, I like asking questions. I got that from my pastor. What have you been carrying that God never asked you to carry along? We carry so much and don't know that there's a weight on us. And God says, I want to put more on you than you can bear. But sometimes we don't want to keep putting stuff on us, not God, us. God be trying to take it off of us and we'll put it right back on us. Then we create issues and circumstances, and then saying, Lord, where are you? And God said, I'm right here, but you're not being still enough to hear my voice. I want you to know God already knows everything that we go through, every single thing. That's why he said in Psalms 55 and 22, cast your burden on the Lord and He will sustain you. He didn't say carry it until you break, he said, give it to me. And on this Saturday morning, here's your invitation. Not no homework, not another task, just an invitation today to sit quietly with God for just 10 minutes. Leave your phone in another room, take your Bible, your coffee, your tea, your juice, your water, take your open and honest heart, and read one Psalms, then simply ask, Lord, what do you want me to know today? And then listen. You don't have to fill every moment with the words. Sometimes the greatest prayer is simply sitting in God's presence. Amen. Glory be to God. I'm telling you, God speaks when we be still. When we calm the distractions, when we put the social media down and the phones down and the text messages and the phone calls. When we truly sit still, God said, Damn, you can hear. As we get ready to pray, I pray that God opens up your heart on this wonderful Saturday morning. I pray that He beams the sunlight upon your face this morning. I pray that you can just feel God's warmth surrounding you. I pray that God will show you what he would like for you to do today. Listen for God's voice. He said, My sheep know my voice. Amen. Let us go to our Lord and Savior in prayer. Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, I want to thank you for every listener that's under the sound of my voice this morning. Heavenly Father, you know exactly where they are. You know the pace of their lives, you know the responsibilities that they carry, the prayers they whisper, the tears they had, and the burdens they really speak about. But Heavenly Father, on this day, I invite you, oh God, to help them and me to learn the simple words of be still. Help us believe that the world would not fall apart if we pause to be with you for just a moment. Heavenly Father, forgive us for the times we've been so busy that we've neglected the very relationship that gives us life. Heavenly Father, I pray for the one who feels exhausted, not just physically, but emotionally, financially, and spiritually. Wrap them in your peace, wrap them in your grace and your mercy and your favor. Let them rest without guilt, O God, knowing that you are still working even when they are not still. Holy Father, I pray for the caregiver who spends their days serving others. Refresh them, O God. Fill them with new strength. Remind them that you see every unseen act of love. I pray for the parent who feels pulled in a thousand directions, O God. Grant them wisdom for every decision and patience for every interruption, Heavenly Father. Let their home become a place where your peace dwells all day, every day. Heavenly Father, for the person carrying financial concerns, remind them that you are Jehovah Jaram, our provider. Open doors according to your will over their lives. Provide what they need for today and teach them to trust you with their tomorrows, O God. For the listener waiting on and answer strength in their hearts, O God, your word says in Isaiah 40 that those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. Honey Father, renew hope where disappointment has settled in. Renew faith where questions remain. Renew courage for the next step, O God. Honey Father, teach us to value your presence more than our productivity. Help us to choose communion with you before our to-do list, O God. Let our homes become places where prayer is natural, where scripture is treasured, and where your love is reflected in our words and our actions. Honey Father, may we leave this time knowing that you go before us, you walk beside us, and you hold our future securely in your hands. Holy Father, as we prepare for a new week, help us enter it with rest, not only in body, but in spirit and in soul, O God. Fill us with your joy, steady our hearts with your peace, and remind us that no matter what tomorrow brings, you are already there. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. We ask all this in the precious and powerful name of Jesus Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Amen. And before we go, I want to bless you with God's word. May the Lord quiet every anxious thought. May He strengthen what has grown weary. May He restore what life has drained. May He fill your home with His peace, your heart with His joy, and your mind with His truth. May you discover this weekend that God is already at work in places you cannot yet see. Walk into this new week knowing that one, the one who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it. Amen. You don't have to have all the answers. You just have to stay close to the one who does. Thank you for spending part of your Saturday with me. Until next time, I care. God cares. And whatever you're facing, let's pray.