WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:21.760 Well, good morning, Awakening Church. 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:23.039 Great to be with you. 00:00:23.199 --> 00:00:25.039 Welcome, welcome, welcome. 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:26.320 My name's Ryan. 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:30.000 We're absolutely thrilled to have you join us today. 00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:34.079 And today we're concluding our series, When We Pray. 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:38.320 We've been in a, this is part six, a six-part series of When We Pray. 00:00:38.399 --> 00:00:46.240 And we said this, it's not if you pray or you should pray, but there's just this reality that there's a natural human instinct. 00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:58.320 We all pray at some point, at some time, even if you don't believe in God or not, you do send up good thoughts or something to connect to a being beyond yourself. 00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:02.640 And we've been talking about like how do we pray? 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:04.000 How do we learn to pray? 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:10.640 Like we have this longing to connect and go, like, okay, when when we pray, does it actually matter? 00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:12.079 Does it affect change? 00:01:12.159 --> 00:01:18.239 And there's something instinctly we know it's powerful and effective, yet it's it's a mystery to us, isn't it? 00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:20.239 It's like, how does it work? 00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:22.480 Is it magic or something? 00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:23.439 How does that work? 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:28.079 And and did I say the right words to get God to move on my behalf? 00:01:28.159 --> 00:01:34.879 And we've been wrestling with these questions, like, how do we pray where we actually experience the presence and power of God in our life? 00:01:35.040 --> 00:01:36.000 Don't you want that today? 00:01:36.159 --> 00:01:44.239 Don't you want, like, okay, as I begin to stop and to communicate and commune with God, like I experience his presence and power? 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:54.239 Or how do we pray in a way that is actually life-giving, soul-shaping, where we experience our Heavenly Father deeply and profoundly. 00:01:54.400 --> 00:02:00.879 You and I were created for a life-giving, soul-shaping relationship with our Heavenly Father. 00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:04.879 And here we we said this right at the outset, uh, week one. 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:09.840 Just as communication is the foundation for every relationship. 00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:14.319 Like if you want to have a great relationship, you gotta learn to communicate. 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:19.360 Prayer is the primary pathway upon which we experience intimacy with God. 00:02:19.680 --> 00:02:23.840 And over the last several weeks, week one, we talked about the basics of prayer. 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:28.719 Uh week two, we um talked about contemplative prayer, being still and knowing he's God. 00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:36.000 Week three, uh, Ashley talked all about intercessory prayer and how do we like intercede on behalf of other people. 00:02:36.159 --> 00:02:39.039 Then we talked uh week four on unanswered prayer. 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:40.400 What do we do with that? 00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:51.360 Last week, Dave, our new exp and Robbie talked all about singing prayer, like what we just sang, and and those are uh prayers in song forms, and how do we connect with God through singing? 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:55.120 Today we're gonna talk about hearing prayer. 00:02:55.520 --> 00:02:56.879 Hearing prayer. 00:02:57.840 --> 00:03:00.719 Like, how do you hear God when you pray? 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:13.840 Like if prayer is the primary pathway to intimacy with God, fundamentally we kind of think of prayer like talking, or at least maybe that's the way I've thought about it a lot, is I'm talking to God, and yet it's a two-way street, isn't it? 00:03:13.919 --> 00:03:18.319 If you're gonna do communication, it's talking and listening. 00:03:18.639 --> 00:03:24.800 And and by the way, there's no like spouse's elbows to your mate, like, yeah, listening. 00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:27.680 See, you're supposed to listen, communication. 00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:29.680 But how do we listen? 00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:32.319 How do we hear the very force of God? 00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:38.479 How do you you maybe you came in today and you're like, I need to hear from God, I need a word from God, I need direction from God. 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:47.680 I've been looking and searching, and I'm longing and hoping, and this relationship or this work issue or what's going on at home? 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:49.520 Like, I need a word from God. 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:51.360 How do I hear from God? 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:53.919 Like, does God still speak? 00:03:54.159 --> 00:04:01.439 Like we talk about these stories and hear it in like the Bible times, does he still speak today? 00:04:01.520 --> 00:04:05.840 And if he does speak, how can you be sure he's speaking to you? 00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:10.800 How do you know it's like his voice speaking and directing to you? 00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:12.560 And so we just want to wrestle with this. 00:04:12.719 --> 00:04:21.680 It's like, how do you, you know, not just talk to God, but actually hear God talk to you? 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:29.600 How do you not just have a conversation that's a one-way street, but actually hear God talk to you? 00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:36.959 Uh, today we're gonna look at probably the most famous passage in all of the Bible of God talking to a person. 00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:46.560 Uh, even if you don't have a background uh when it comes to God or Christianity, you've probably heard about this story. 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:56.720 And here's the problem about hearing about a story from many of us is we I think we often draw perhaps not the right conclusions. 00:04:57.519 --> 00:04:59.279 They they lead us astray. 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:12.079 And uh in fact, we're gonna discover five foundational truths today of how to encounter and hear the voice of God from a person who encountered God, a guy named Moses. 00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:15.279 If you got your Bibles, would you open up to Exodus chapter three? 00:05:15.439 --> 00:05:19.040 Exodus chapter three, verse one is where we're gonna be at today. 00:05:19.199 --> 00:05:24.879 And Moses, a little background context, he's the great leader and liberator of the Israelite people. 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:27.519 They were in bondage and slavery for 400 years. 00:05:27.759 --> 00:05:31.199 God raises up Moses, he is a prince of Egypt. 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:38.800 He uh tries to fulfill his calling in a bad way, literally murdered, not good, uh, and then flees for his life. 00:05:38.959 --> 00:06:07.360 And he's been spending 40 years in the wilderness, and he's been tending sheep, got married, had a family, and really, if you if you just kind of look at this and back this up, here's a guy with the best pedigree, the best education, and clearly had a calling on his life, and he's been wasting it in the wilderness for 40 years, far from where he was designed and what he was called to do. 00:06:07.519 --> 00:06:10.560 And that is exactly where we pick up the story today. 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:12.959 Exodus chapter 3, verse 1 says this. 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:23.199 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness. 00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:24.639 And he came to Horeb. 00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:26.000 It's a mountain range. 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:30.000 You'd know the specific mountain, Mount Sinai, the mountain of God. 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:35.040 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within the bush. 00:06:35.279 --> 00:06:38.959 Moses saw that though the bush was on fire, it did not burn up. 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:42.480 So Moses thought, I'll go over and see the strange sight. 00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:44.720 Why the bush does not burn up? 00:06:44.959 --> 00:06:51.759 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, Moses, Moses. 00:06:52.319 --> 00:06:55.040 And Moses said, Here I am. 00:06:56.000 --> 00:07:04.639 Before we dive into the five foundational truths, would you just pray with me to invite the Holy Spirit to speak to us? 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:08.639 He wants to speak to you right now in this moment. 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:11.680 Heavenly Father, we thank you for this moment. 00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:20.160 We thank you for this time to gather and to worship and invite you to have your way to get me out of the way. 00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:32.879 And that you would speak to every single person who is listening, that there would be an openness and receptivity of their heart and a responsiveness to your word. 00:07:34.399 --> 00:07:38.800 And so we invite you in this moment to speak in Jesus' name. 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:40.480 And all God's people say. 00:07:41.920 --> 00:07:42.560 Amen. 00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:47.040 Five foundational truths for hearing God. 00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:56.639 The first one that we must know if we're really going to develop understanding how to hear from God is this God is closer than you think. 00:07:57.199 --> 00:07:59.600 God is closer than you think. 00:07:59.839 --> 00:08:07.519 Now, I think when we read this story, we would kind of draw the conclusion that God is farther than we think. 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:08.720 Because where was Moses? 00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:12.560 He was on the far side of the wilderness. 00:08:12.720 --> 00:08:17.360 And we go, like, well, maybe to like really hear from God, I gotta do a pilgrimage. 00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:28.399 Maybe I can only hear from God on Sundays when I show up at church, that I have to find some holy place and somehow, you know, then be able to hear from God. 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:36.399 And the truth and the reality of this moment is actually God is far closer than you think and realize or recognize or understand. 00:08:36.799 --> 00:08:42.159 See, the text and the way it is set up is Moses on this far side of the wilderness. 00:08:42.320 --> 00:08:46.879 It's not so much saying that he had done this pilgrimage to the mountain of God. 00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:51.759 In fact, it was named the mountain of God afterwards, not before. 00:08:53.440 --> 00:08:58.080 It's that Moses was actually far outside his calling. 00:08:58.720 --> 00:09:02.000 Moses was in a season of wandering. 00:09:02.720 --> 00:09:10.080 Moses was going through a period of life from the outward perspective, we would say wasted. 00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:13.120 Wandering. 00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:17.279 In fact, he's so far from home. 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:26.399 And here's the truth that Moses was on the far side of the wilderness, but he wasn't far from God. 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:32.480 Moses was far outside his calling, but he wasn't far from God. 00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:41.519 Like there was no place he could go or where he could turn, that God was not already present and active and working. 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:44.639 See, God was closer than he thought. 00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:49.120 There's two big theological ideas we we gotta understand here. 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:53.679 And the first is the transcendence of God, the second is the imminence of God. 00:09:53.919 --> 00:10:02.240 The transcendence of God says that God is wholly other and distinct from creation, existing independently of his creation, that he's completely other. 00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:04.799 He's not a part of creation, he is outside of it. 00:10:04.960 --> 00:10:07.600 He created all that we see and understand. 00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:12.879 He is great and beyond it, and in his transcendence, he is imminent. 00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:22.559 Meaning that God is present in all of his creation in a personal, intimate way while remaining distinct. 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:30.159 See, there is no place that you can go that God is not already present. 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:40.159 There is no path that you can walk down upon which God has not already been there to meet you right where you're at. 00:10:40.720 --> 00:10:48.559 In fact, the psalmist, Psalm 139, would say it this way great psalm to actually lean into the entirety of it. 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:51.519 But he says, Where can I go from your spirit? 00:10:51.759 --> 00:10:53.440 Where can I flee from your presence? 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:54.320 Answer. 00:10:55.039 --> 00:10:55.759 Answer. 00:10:56.799 --> 00:10:57.600 Nowhere. 00:10:57.840 --> 00:10:58.320 Thank you. 00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:00.799 We'll get it by the end of the night. 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:02.720 If I go up to the heavens, you're there. 00:11:02.799 --> 00:11:04.639 If I make my bed in the depths, you're there. 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:15.120 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there, your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:19.279 God is closer than you think. 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:43.919 Dallas Willard in his book, Hearing God, he's a famous philosopher and wrote uh extensively on spiritual formation, says how hard it is for us to come to an adequate conception of the lowliness of God, of how his greatness is precisely what makes him able, available, and ready to hear and speak personally with his creatures. 00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:52.240 See, I think for many of us, we wandered in and we feel like we're on the far side of the wilderness. 00:11:54.159 --> 00:11:56.080 Because you wandered in with doubt. 00:11:56.720 --> 00:11:58.879 Maybe you're deconstructing your faith. 00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:06.399 You wandered in with anxiety and fear and discouragement and depression. 00:12:07.039 --> 00:12:09.919 You wandered in, and last night you did some things. 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:12.639 It was a Halloween party, and you're like, hello. 00:12:12.879 --> 00:12:21.840 Um, I wasn't planning to go there, and I wasn't planning to do that, and I wasn't planning to wake up there, and I feel way far from God. 00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:29.200 In fact, I feel so dirty in this moment, and I just am here because a friend said, Would you come? 00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:31.120 And I showed up. 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:38.080 So you may be on the far side of the mountain, but you're never far from God. 00:12:38.240 --> 00:12:40.480 God is closer than you think. 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:46.080 He is ever present, and the moment you turn, you'll realize he was always there. 00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:52.320 First foundational truth for us to understand and hearing God is God is closer than you think. 00:12:52.399 --> 00:12:56.639 The second one is God is in the everydayness of life. 00:12:57.200 --> 00:13:00.159 God is in the everydayness of life. 00:13:00.320 --> 00:13:06.159 I don't know about you, but when I read this story, especially for so long, I'm like, I want my burning bush moment. 00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:07.679 Right? 00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:10.720 Like, where's my burning bush moment? 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:17.120 Where's and then I thought, you know, that would be kind of weird actually in my neighborhood if I saw a bush burning. 00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:18.320 Would I really stop? 00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:21.120 You know. 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:26.080 But we want something spectacular, don't we? 00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:33.360 We want it big, we want it extraordinary, we want, we want something that's like like Ryan. 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:35.600 You know, it's like, whoa. 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:43.440 And the truth and the reality for us to understand is God is in the everydayness of life. 00:13:43.759 --> 00:13:46.399 Moses was a shepherd for 40 years. 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:52.399 He traveled those deserts and those plains and those barren wasteland. 00:13:52.960 --> 00:13:57.440 Do you know how many burning bushes he saw over the course of 40 years? 00:13:58.240 --> 00:13:58.879 A lot. 00:13:59.840 --> 00:14:01.519 It was a common sight. 00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:05.840 Uh, lightning would strike, and uh you would see burning bushes because of that. 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:11.519 In fact, because of the arid climate there and how hot it was, uh, bushes would even spontaneously combust. 00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:13.120 That's crazy, okay? 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:17.759 And so it wasn't an extraordinary sight. 00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:22.240 It was an ordinary sight that Moses could have easily missed. 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:25.840 The burning bush was an ordinary, everyday. 00:14:26.320 --> 00:14:34.559 Think about this moment that would have been easy for Moses to overlook, but to pass by and go unnoticed. 00:14:36.720 --> 00:14:40.720 I like how poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning said it. 00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:46.799 The earth's crammed with heaven, and every common bush a fire with God. 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:51.039 But only he who sees takes off his shoes. 00:14:52.240 --> 00:15:01.679 A while ago, I was listening to this podcast at Ferris, um, Tim Ferris podcast, not a Christian, by the way, and some crazy stuff on there, uh, for those who are like, oh, I'm gonna go listen to that. 00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:08.000 Uh, but he he interviews high-performing uh people in every discipline. 00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:11.759 Uh, and he had this line that caught me, and he was talking about beauty. 00:15:12.080 --> 00:15:17.519 He said, Beauty, it's um it's not hard to find, but it's easy to overlook. 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:21.519 And how true it is with God. 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:23.679 The ever-present one. 00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:34.639 Not hard to find, but easy to overlook, and we miss him because we don't stop and behold the burning bush and have curiosity of what is it and why is it, what's happening there. 00:15:34.879 --> 00:15:43.840 And we miss God's activity in our everyday life because we're not aware and attentive that He's actually working and moving in those moments with us. 00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:50.080 Like God is in the everyday dailyness of life. 00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:55.840 Uh, when I was in college, I remember reading um Oswald Chambers, My Umost Forest Highest. 00:15:55.919 --> 00:16:00.320 And I was looking for it this week and I couldn't find it anywhere, like where it literally said this. 00:16:00.559 --> 00:16:06.960 Really cool though, is I flipped through pages and um like I saw different things about my relationship with Jenny. 00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:08.000 We're dating at the time. 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:09.519 I'm like, Jenny said, I love you. 00:16:09.679 --> 00:16:17.039 I like wrote all this at the top of the uh thing, and like we talked about marriage, you know, exclamation point, um, you know, all these like things. 00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:18.399 It was very sweet. 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:23.919 And I'm sending her pictures, you know, spamming her phone with all these different pictures. 00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:33.279 But Oswald Chambers talked about expecting God and how often we miss God because God doesn't show up in the way we expect him. 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:50.879 And he gave this picture, and the picture was simply this like often we expect God, and imagine you're in a house and we're looking at the front door and we're expecting him to go through the front door, and so our eyes are focused on the front door, and yet God came in the back door and been present the entire time. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:17:01.200 And I think that's so true for us is that if God doesn't show up the way we think, the way we want, the way we expect him, and then we think he's just not showing up. 00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:05.039 And he's like, I've been here and I've been working and I showed up the entire time. 00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:07.440 And his point was just make room for God. 00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:09.680 Just make room for God. 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:17.759 Expect him to show up, and then have eyes to see, okay, God, you're in the everydayness of life. 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:21.839 Hearing God, five foundations, God is closer than you think. 00:17:22.240 --> 00:17:26.799 God is in the everydayness of life. 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:30.880 Foundational truth number three is God longs to speak to you. 00:17:31.680 --> 00:17:33.279 God longs to speak to you. 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:44.960 Just as God longed to speak to Moses, just as God longs to speak to the Apostle Paul, Elijah, God longs to speak to you. 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:52.640 It wasn't just for one person back then, it is for you and me today. 00:17:53.200 --> 00:17:59.839 And so I want to take a moment and just unpack a few of the ways that God speaks to us. 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:02.720 Like, how does God speak to us? 00:18:02.880 --> 00:18:05.920 How do we begin to hear his voice, know his voice? 00:18:06.400 --> 00:18:09.759 And this is by no means exhaustive, but it is a good start. 00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:11.759 How does God speak to us? 00:18:11.920 --> 00:18:15.359 The first way is God speaks to us through his word. 00:18:16.240 --> 00:18:18.000 Like he wrote it down. 00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:21.279 Like, God, just speak to me, please. 00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:22.799 And he's gone, I did. 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:27.920 Like we so often go, God, would you speak to me? 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:29.839 And yet we're not in his word. 00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:34.559 He's gone, I wrote you a note. 00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:41.920 Like those days when Jenny and I were dating, when I'm writing on the my utmost for my highest, like my little love notes, I guess at the top. 00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:43.200 She was in Sweden. 00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:45.200 I was in Chicago at the time. 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:48.480 We would write each other notes back and forth. 00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:52.480 I still have those notes to this day. 00:18:53.759 --> 00:18:56.960 Because my wife, the love of my life, wrote them. 00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:00.480 God wrote us a note. 00:19:01.599 --> 00:19:05.519 God speaks to us primarily and fundamentally in his word. 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:11.519 If we're not in his word, we won't know his voice and his leading in other areas of our life. 00:19:12.319 --> 00:19:16.319 Because you won't know what is his heartbeat and what is actually true. 00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:18.720 He speaks to us in his word. 00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:31.039 2 Timothy 3.16 says, All scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, training, rebuking, and correcting so that the person, the servant of God, might be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:37.440 God speaks to us through his word, and God speaks through his spirit, the Holy Spirit of God. 00:19:37.839 --> 00:19:44.640 Like the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead now lives and dwells inside each of us. 00:19:46.240 --> 00:19:59.279 In 1 Corinthians 2, 10, the Apostle Paul says it this way: the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God, for who knows a person's thought except their own spirit within them? 00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:03.119 In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the spirit of God. 00:20:03.279 --> 00:20:07.440 We have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God. 00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:14.960 Now listen to this, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 00:20:15.680 --> 00:20:22.880 The Spirit communicates with our spirit, and verse 16 says, But we have the very mind of Christ. 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:28.720 This is where we talk about the still small voice of God. 00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:35.839 This is where we talk about and understand that inner voice, the whisper. 00:20:40.160 --> 00:20:44.640 Elijah wandered onto this same mountain a few hundred years later. 00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:53.519 He was completely exhausted, uh, discouraged, uh, clinically depressed, and he needed a word from God. 00:20:54.640 --> 00:21:08.000 And we do just so want the extraordinary, and God shows him in the ordinary, and he shows up onto this mountain, and I and I love the way God shows up, and it says, first, this mighty wind tore through. 00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:11.359 And it says, God was not in the wind. 00:21:12.079 --> 00:21:15.839 And then an earthquake rumbled through Tuesday, earthquake. 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:17.359 Anybody feel the earthquake? 00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:19.599 Yeah, it's amazing. 00:21:19.839 --> 00:21:20.720 I was in the car. 00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:24.319 The last couple ones have been in the car, which I'm like so frustrated at. 00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:33.519 Um, aside, this is totally off topic, but um the uh like non-Californians, you guys are freaked out because of earthquakes. 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:34.799 It's weird to me. 00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:35.599 I don't get it. 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:38.559 Like you go and like, oh California, all the earthquakes. 00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:39.599 I'm like, really? 00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:44.240 Like the last major one we had was 89 in this part of the world, right? 00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:45.519 That's pretty good. 00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:48.640 I don't know about you, but tornadoes, nah. 00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:51.680 And they seem way more frequent. 00:21:53.119 --> 00:21:54.079 A side over. 00:21:54.480 --> 00:21:54.799 Okay. 00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:58.720 God shows up and the earthquake rumbles through. 00:21:59.039 --> 00:22:02.319 Says he's not a The earthquake, and then a fire tears through. 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:08.000 And then the text, if you're reading in the NIV, says a gentle whisper. 00:22:08.880 --> 00:22:11.680 In the Hebrew, it's a silence. 00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:14.079 It's the silence. 00:22:14.160 --> 00:22:17.519 It's the gentle whisper of God. 00:22:19.359 --> 00:22:23.759 That God speaks to our spirit. 00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:27.440 And he moves, and it's the gentle prodding. 00:22:27.519 --> 00:22:34.400 Some of you might think of it and you might hear someone say, Why I just felt like I had this nudge of the Holy Spirit. 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:42.319 And as you begin to respond to those nudges or those promptings, you begin to clarify his voice in your life. 00:22:42.880 --> 00:22:56.640 See, if you have a thought that's for someone else's good, that is contrary to what you would naturally desire, and it requires faith, chances are that's the spirit of God and not your spirit. 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:07.920 And as you become aware of that and recognize it in partnership with the word of God, then you begin to experience the daily guiding and leading. 00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:21.359 Dallas Willard again says this: God usually addresses individually those who walk with him in a mature personal relationship, using this inner voice, showing forth the reality of the kingdom of God as they go. 00:23:21.519 --> 00:23:22.319 How does God speak? 00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:26.160 Through the Word of God, through the Spirit of God, the still small voice. 00:23:26.480 --> 00:23:28.559 He also speaks through other people. 00:23:28.960 --> 00:23:30.400 God uses other people. 00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:35.279 I'm praying that God is using me right now in this moment to speak to you. 00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:41.039 And there's other people in our life that God uses and he brings a word. 00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:49.279 That's why 1 Corinthians 12 says this that now to each one, the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 00:23:49.440 --> 00:23:52.799 To one, there's given through the Spirit a message of wisdom for somebody. 00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:57.039 It's another message of knowledge by the same means of the Spirit. 00:23:57.279 --> 00:24:00.000 Like God uses other people. 00:24:00.640 --> 00:24:06.079 I'll give you an example over our time in Mexico with our high school ministry one morning. 00:24:06.160 --> 00:24:07.279 I was wrestling with God. 00:24:07.359 --> 00:24:15.039 I felt like I had a word from God a little over a decade ago about dreams and things he put on my mind and heart that he wanted to be a part of. 00:24:15.119 --> 00:24:17.920 And I'm looking at a decade later and I'm like, none of it. 00:24:18.319 --> 00:24:21.200 And then I'm just kind of like, come on, God. 00:24:21.759 --> 00:24:24.240 I thought I heard from you, but maybe it's just me. 00:24:24.400 --> 00:24:26.079 And if you're not about that, I'm okay. 00:24:26.160 --> 00:24:29.839 And I was having a little bit of a gripe fest, but also a surrender fest. 00:24:30.319 --> 00:24:37.200 Like I'm frustrated here, but if I don't want to be a part of what's not what you're not a part of. 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:48.960 And then I had this uh gal, we're in this worship service, like tap me on the uh shoulder and I go, um, yeah, and she says, Do you speak Spanish? 00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:51.759 And I go, Absolutely not. 00:24:51.920 --> 00:24:54.559 No, I don't speak Spanish at all. 00:24:54.720 --> 00:25:00.000 I a little bit, I'm great at ordering, fantastic at ordering food, but that's about it. 00:25:01.200 --> 00:25:11.759 And so she spends the next like 10 minutes typing in her Google Translate, and then hands me what she typed out. 00:25:12.400 --> 00:25:23.119 This person that doesn't know me, that we don't even speak the same language, had written some of the very same words and themes that I had just written two hours earlier in my journal. 00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:26.079 Like God speaks through other people. 00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:32.160 And there are things and times where as you're praying for someone, he gives you a word of encouragement, a word of wisdom. 00:25:32.319 --> 00:25:34.400 He might give you a picture for them. 00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:37.599 Now we gotta be so careful with this as well. 00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:40.799 Because we can abuse that, and it's been abused in the church. 00:25:40.960 --> 00:25:43.200 God told me that you're supposed to marry me. 00:25:43.359 --> 00:25:45.200 Like, no, I didn't. 00:25:45.519 --> 00:25:50.880 And if he did, hold that to yourself until after you get married and tell the story, and it's awesome. 00:25:51.759 --> 00:25:54.079 The other way feels like manipulation. 00:25:55.680 --> 00:25:58.960 In fact, my friend Judy does this so wonderfully. 00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:07.119 She'll often be praying for me, and she'll like have a word, and she writes it on a three by five card, and she'll go, Ryan is just praying. 00:26:07.200 --> 00:26:10.960 This is just a word that God was bringing to my mind, and I just want to give it to you. 00:26:11.039 --> 00:26:17.599 And you take time and you sit with Jesus and whatever's from him, you know, allow him to bring that to the forefront. 00:26:17.920 --> 00:26:25.039 Like, not somehow I have a word and I'm gonna drop this on you, but this is what I believe God was working in me. 00:26:25.200 --> 00:26:34.640 Far be it from me to know that I actually heard completely, clearly, and understand it fully, but I'm gonna give to you and let and trust that the Spirit of God's gonna speak and work in you. 00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:43.440 And God speaks through his word, God speaks through his spirit, God speaks through other people in our lives, and then he uses creation. 00:26:44.559 --> 00:26:51.440 The psalmist says it this way: Psalm 19 says, The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the works of his hand. 00:26:51.599 --> 00:27:05.599 Day after day they pour forth speech, night after night they reveal knowledge, they have no speech, uh, they use no words, no sound is heard from them, yet their voice goes out into all the earth and their words to the ends of the world. 00:27:05.839 --> 00:27:26.240 And haven't you had that moment where you stand with this incredible, you know, ocean view and beach and the majesty of God and his transcendence and your finiteness, or you're in his creation, and his gentle whisper then wraps you up in that moment. 00:27:27.039 --> 00:27:35.680 And his profound love for you overwhelms you as you think about how great he is and yet close he is at the same time. 00:27:35.839 --> 00:27:42.559 And he uses his creation to speak for, declare his glory, and to speak to us. 00:27:43.440 --> 00:27:45.839 There's many other ways that he uses speak to us. 00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:50.079 The final one I'll do is he uses visions and dreams. 00:27:50.480 --> 00:28:01.039 There's things you see this throughout scripture, that he uses visions and dreams to speak to us and to tell his people some special things. 00:28:01.279 --> 00:28:08.559 You know, um, the way God speaks actually to my wife often is God gives her a picture. 00:28:08.799 --> 00:28:14.000 She's very artistic and visual, and so God will give her a picture. 00:28:14.160 --> 00:28:16.960 And for me, I'm pretty cerebral and I'm got my journal. 00:28:17.119 --> 00:28:23.039 God often, you know, is in his word and kind of dropping some things to me uh that way. 00:28:23.200 --> 00:28:30.559 Here's one of the amazing parts is God meets us in the way he made us, and that he meets us individually in that way. 00:28:30.799 --> 00:28:43.680 You know, recently, um, and so grateful, um we've all become aware of what's happening in Iran right now and the tragedy and the incredible rise up and the injustices that are happening there. 00:28:44.000 --> 00:29:00.720 Um and, you know, some very close friends here in our community, uh, that's their home, and their hearts are broken, and and yet at the same time hopeful that justice and uh Jesus' way will prevail through all of the heartache and tragedy. 00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:18.079 And what's amazing is uh my friends, they've they've been serving and bringing Jesus to uh not just Iran but Afghanistan and other Muslim countries, and one of the things that doesn't catch the headlines is the spread of the gospel in these countries. 00:29:18.880 --> 00:29:25.680 And there are so many people coming to know Jesus because he shows up into a dream. 00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:32.000 In these closed countries where they don't have access to the gospel, and Jesus just shows up at them. 00:29:32.559 --> 00:29:43.920 And you're seeing the church grow and spread in incredible ways in Afghanistan and Iran, through and under incredible persecution. 00:29:44.240 --> 00:29:48.799 And Jesus shows up and he makes and meets people profoundly. 00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:54.559 And so, how does God speak to us through his word, through the Spirit of God, through other people, through creations, visions, and dreams? 00:29:54.720 --> 00:29:57.839 But the question then is how do you know it's God speaking to you? 00:29:58.160 --> 00:29:58.720 Right? 00:29:58.960 --> 00:30:01.039 How do you know that dream was God? 00:30:01.920 --> 00:30:05.039 And how and not just like, man, that was weird. 00:30:05.680 --> 00:30:07.119 That's different. 00:30:07.440 --> 00:30:08.640 That hit different. 00:30:08.880 --> 00:30:10.480 Like, how do you know that? 00:30:10.640 --> 00:30:15.039 Uh, Joyce Huggett in her book, Listening for God, she's an international bestseller. 00:30:15.279 --> 00:30:24.240 This is uh old book, she wrote, If you believe God has told you something, ask him to confirm it to you three times through his word. 00:30:24.720 --> 00:30:27.519 Like he'll never contradict himself. 00:30:28.079 --> 00:30:29.519 Get back into his word. 00:30:29.839 --> 00:30:33.759 Do I see alignment here through circumstances? 00:30:34.240 --> 00:30:39.839 Like, like God, you've called us to move and you called us to maybe change a job. 00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:47.519 It are you gonna begin to lead me and show different ways that you've set things up as I'm taking steps of faith? 00:30:48.799 --> 00:31:00.720 And through other people who may not know, uh, who may know nothing of the situation, where where you begin to go, okay, I'm not just going to run and just go like, I heard a word from God. 00:31:01.440 --> 00:31:03.279 In fact, I get that sometimes. 00:31:03.519 --> 00:31:10.079 Especially young people uh will often come to me and like, God told me. 00:31:10.960 --> 00:31:13.119 I go, well, that's fantastic. 00:31:13.680 --> 00:31:25.599 But when you say, God told me, and this is what you're doing, you've now closed yourself off to the community of God of speaking into and bringing wisdom and any other things that God might want to say through his people. 00:31:26.720 --> 00:31:31.839 Instead of God told me, you go, you know what, I'm really sensing God is leading in this direction. 00:31:32.160 --> 00:31:33.200 Would you pray with me? 00:31:33.279 --> 00:31:39.359 And I love for you to discern with me and help me discover is this really the path he has for me? 00:31:39.680 --> 00:31:43.759 And you begin to do this journey in community. 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:45.359 Five foundational truths. 00:31:45.519 --> 00:31:47.440 God is closer than you think. 00:31:47.759 --> 00:31:51.920 He's in the everydayness, God longs to speak to you. 00:31:52.240 --> 00:31:56.240 Number four, God will not compete for your attention. 00:31:56.480 --> 00:32:03.839 You ask the question if God is closer than I think in my everyday life and longs to speak to me, why don't I hear him more? 00:32:04.079 --> 00:32:04.480 Right? 00:32:04.640 --> 00:32:06.400 Why don't I hear him more? 00:32:07.680 --> 00:32:10.319 Because he's not going to compete for your attention. 00:32:12.880 --> 00:32:15.359 Remember, think about this. 00:32:15.440 --> 00:32:22.400 I mean, this picture, Moses is seeing hundreds of burning bushes. 00:32:24.240 --> 00:32:28.079 He's at work, he's doing his nine to five. 00:32:28.799 --> 00:32:32.319 And he's probably got a couple sheep that are just annoying them. 00:32:32.640 --> 00:32:34.960 You know, they just keep wandering off. 00:32:36.240 --> 00:32:41.440 And then he sees this side over here, and here's what had to happen. 00:32:41.759 --> 00:32:46.240 He had to not just see it, but he had to actually take steps toward it. 00:32:46.319 --> 00:32:54.400 He had to stop what he was doing, stop his work, not just take a picture, post it on Instagram and say, Oh, cool, burning bush, hello. 00:32:54.559 --> 00:32:57.920 But he had to turn and actually begin to move in that direction. 00:32:58.079 --> 00:33:01.920 And did you notice it wasn't until he got there that God spoke? 00:33:04.079 --> 00:33:10.799 And so often the reason we don't hear from God is we don't create space for God to speak. 00:33:11.119 --> 00:33:16.000 The whisper of God, the still small voice, he will not compete for our attention. 00:33:16.079 --> 00:33:34.240 And we have our so many things clamoring for our attention, the busyness of our lives, the constant like draw to our phones, the hectic pace that we live at, and the noise of our life is louder and louder and louder and louder. 00:33:34.480 --> 00:33:38.480 And the still small voice of God is still consistent and constant. 00:33:38.720 --> 00:33:41.599 We just don't hear it. 00:33:42.400 --> 00:33:44.319 Dallas Willard again said this. 00:33:44.480 --> 00:33:49.519 He said, first of all, the fact that we do not hear God does not mean that God's not speaking. 00:33:50.720 --> 00:33:52.960 God will not overrun us. 00:33:53.759 --> 00:34:11.440 We must be open to the possibility of God addressing us in whatever way he chooses, or else we may walk right past a burning bush instead of saying, as Moses did, I must turn aside and look at this great sight and see why the bush is not burned. 00:34:16.800 --> 00:34:21.440 See, I think there's a few reasons we don't hear from God. 00:34:25.119 --> 00:34:29.039 I think um I think one, we have hearing problems. 00:34:30.480 --> 00:34:33.440 Two, I just think we have hearing problems. 00:34:34.079 --> 00:34:40.480 You know, um men as we get older, we naturally lose our higher frequency of hearing. 00:34:40.719 --> 00:34:45.679 And women, as you get older, more commonly you lose the lower frequency of hearing. 00:34:45.760 --> 00:34:51.280 And so the older you get as a couple, you actually hear each other less. 00:34:56.400 --> 00:34:58.480 In some marriage, I know it. 00:34:59.119 --> 00:35:02.079 No, Ryan said, my low frequency. 00:35:06.559 --> 00:35:09.199 We got to tune into the frequency of God. 00:35:11.440 --> 00:35:18.880 And we have so much noise in the background of our life, so many things that are keeping us busy and inwardly dispersed and distracted. 00:35:19.039 --> 00:35:30.480 And that noise is turned on, and we we just can't hear the gentle, the quiet whisper, the promptings of the Spirit of God. 00:35:30.960 --> 00:35:32.480 See, I think we just have a hearing problem. 00:35:32.559 --> 00:35:33.519 We gotta go, you know what? 00:35:33.679 --> 00:35:34.880 The noise is too loud. 00:35:35.039 --> 00:35:42.880 I gotta turn down the noise, I gotta pause, and I just gotta stop for a second and just actually allow God to speak. 00:35:42.960 --> 00:35:48.000 And we don't want that because the minute you quiet the noise, you recognize the noise inside it. 00:35:48.559 --> 00:35:48.880 Right? 00:35:49.119 --> 00:35:50.159 The noise inside of you. 00:35:50.719 --> 00:35:54.159 That's the reason we keep the noise on, is we don't want to hear the noise inside of us. 00:35:54.320 --> 00:35:59.599 The bur the burbling, the whatever. 00:36:01.920 --> 00:36:04.480 As it bubbles up, bubbling is the word. 00:36:06.400 --> 00:36:15.840 Because we want to drown it out, because then we recognize the ache of our soul, and God says, that's the reason I want to speak to you, to meet you and meet the very ache of your soul. 00:36:15.920 --> 00:36:18.559 But as long as you keep the noise on, you'll never hear from me. 00:36:21.920 --> 00:36:25.440 First, we just gotta say we've got a hearing problem, we've got to turn down the noise. 00:36:25.599 --> 00:36:28.880 I think the second is we have selective hearing. 00:36:29.920 --> 00:36:31.280 We have selective hearing. 00:36:31.760 --> 00:36:35.599 We actually hear from God what we want, but not really what we need to hear. 00:36:38.239 --> 00:36:42.000 I mean, truth be told, we don't really want to hear from God. 00:36:44.800 --> 00:36:48.480 Because we're afraid of what God might say, what might God might ask. 00:36:50.079 --> 00:36:53.360 And we're going like, no, it would be nice, but I don't know. 00:36:53.519 --> 00:36:56.480 I I just might have to change my life. 00:36:57.119 --> 00:36:58.960 I just might have to respond. 00:36:59.119 --> 00:37:00.880 I just might have to adjust. 00:37:02.159 --> 00:37:06.719 And so we have this selective hearing where we really want to hear from him, but we don't at all. 00:37:09.519 --> 00:37:13.039 Am I tuned in to the frequency of God? 00:37:13.199 --> 00:37:19.360 Do I want to be about the business that God's doing in my life and creating space? 00:37:20.400 --> 00:37:23.840 God will not compete for your attention. 00:37:25.440 --> 00:37:33.760 Finally, this is the great beautiful truth that I don't know we get in this passage on the first reading. 00:37:34.960 --> 00:37:45.119 And I believe this is not just a truth for those of you who are far from God, but this is a truth that needs to sink deeply into our souls for us who are followers of Jesus. 00:37:46.559 --> 00:37:48.719 God invites you into relationship. 00:37:50.480 --> 00:37:52.960 God invites you into relationship. 00:37:55.679 --> 00:38:02.960 Moses goes over to the burning bush, and then that's when God calls and he says, Moses, Moses. 00:38:03.679 --> 00:38:13.760 And I don't know how you read that or how you hear that or what comes into your mind, but the repetition of name feels a little bit like I'm gonna get in trouble from my perspective. 00:38:14.000 --> 00:38:18.800 If my mom's like, Ryan, Ryan, you know, it's like this escalation, you know. 00:38:18.960 --> 00:38:44.480 Um, she never really used my middle name, so I just the double name would have been like, hello, you know, and and and yet here's what's so fascinating professor of Old Testament, um Douglas Stewart writes this in ancient Semitic culture, addressing someone by saying his or her name twice uh was a way of expressing endearment, that is, affection and friendship. 00:38:44.719 --> 00:38:52.719 Thus, Moses would have understood immediately that he was being addressed by someone who loved him and was concerned about him. 00:38:53.599 --> 00:38:56.000 God invites you into relationship. 00:38:56.159 --> 00:38:58.480 Moses is on the far side of the wilderness. 00:38:58.559 --> 00:39:06.239 And I don't know, I think this may be some of the reason we don't turn down the noise, is we're afraid of what God will say, afraid of what his first words will be. 00:39:06.320 --> 00:39:07.599 And he calls them by name. 00:39:07.760 --> 00:39:08.639 He knows his name. 00:39:08.800 --> 00:39:12.239 He's like, I know you, Moses, and I know who I made you to be. 00:39:12.400 --> 00:39:16.480 By the way, Moses means deliverer, and he's on the what far side of the wilderness. 00:39:16.559 --> 00:39:20.960 He's not deliverer, he's a shepherd, shepherd right now, right? 00:39:22.480 --> 00:39:34.079 And he says, I see you and I see who you're made to be, and I call that forth, and I call it forth with such affection and love and delight, and I call you into relationship. 00:39:36.079 --> 00:39:38.719 See, I think we're afraid of what God might say. 00:39:39.519 --> 00:39:42.480 You're a screw up, you're no good. 00:39:43.440 --> 00:39:45.920 How could you have wandered so far? 00:39:46.800 --> 00:39:48.559 What's wrong with you? 00:39:52.559 --> 00:39:54.079 What were you thinking? 00:39:55.519 --> 00:40:01.760 And God calls out his name, his identity, what's true of him, how he made him, and calls them into relationship. 00:40:04.880 --> 00:40:06.719 God invites you into relationship. 00:40:08.960 --> 00:40:15.840 Not into rules, not into somehow trying to work your way back to God. 00:40:15.920 --> 00:40:19.920 He says, No, I'm present right now with you in relationship. 00:40:21.039 --> 00:40:23.119 Moses' response was, Here am I. 00:40:23.360 --> 00:40:24.400 Here I am. 00:40:25.039 --> 00:40:29.920 And that's the posture, if we want to hear from God, is just simply here I am. 00:40:30.079 --> 00:40:36.079 And the beautiful part about that is God was saying, Here I am, before Moses ever said, Here I am. 00:40:36.400 --> 00:40:39.920 God was present, and today he's saying, Here I am. 00:40:40.079 --> 00:40:42.400 And this is this is an incredible passage. 00:40:42.480 --> 00:40:49.440 Uh Revelation chapter 3, Jesus is talking to the church in Laodicea to followers of Jesus. 00:40:49.679 --> 00:40:54.079 This is what Jesus is saying to followers of Jesus. 00:40:54.480 --> 00:40:55.599 Here I am. 00:40:56.239 --> 00:40:58.559 I stand at the door and knock. 00:40:59.119 --> 00:41:06.320 If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I'll come in and eat with that person and they eat with me. 00:41:07.519 --> 00:41:08.639 Here I am. 00:41:10.639 --> 00:41:12.559 I long to be in relationships. 00:41:13.920 --> 00:41:16.320 Not motivated by odds and duties. 00:41:17.199 --> 00:41:39.039 I long to know you, to walk with you, to be with you, for you to experience my love, my great delight, for you to stop living out false identities and running and striving after all these things, but to have the security that your heavenly father knows you and he has called you and he has made you and he's created you. 00:41:39.199 --> 00:41:41.199 And he says, Here I am. 00:41:41.519 --> 00:41:46.800 And he says, the minute you begin to respond to that, he says, I lean in. 00:41:46.960 --> 00:41:53.920 In fact, in that culture, in that day, to eat with somebody was the sign of full acceptance, a friendship. 00:41:56.800 --> 00:42:11.280 I think for us as we start or close right now, is just simply maybe for the very first time, you didn't realize, like, God wants to have a relationship with you, and you would say, Here I am, and Jesus made the way. 00:42:11.360 --> 00:42:17.199 He says, I'm standing right now, I want to have a relationship with you, and and you just go, Here I am. 00:42:17.440 --> 00:42:20.320 Jesus, would you come into my life and make me new? 00:42:20.400 --> 00:42:22.159 Would you meet me in this moment? 00:42:24.159 --> 00:42:36.880 The reality is, as many of us, we like maybe the Laodiceans, and maybe like Moses, we are in our own wandering, in our own place. 00:42:39.360 --> 00:42:41.840 And Jesus is still saying, Here I am. 00:42:42.079 --> 00:42:43.199 I'm not down on you. 00:42:43.280 --> 00:42:44.719 I love you, I'm for you. 00:42:45.119 --> 00:42:46.159 Here I am. 00:42:47.920 --> 00:42:52.000 And I just want to give us space as we close for you to respond to him. 00:42:53.360 --> 00:42:58.320 For us to turn down the noise and tune into God. 00:42:58.960 --> 00:43:02.800 And wherever you find yourself, would you just say this simple prayer? 00:43:03.440 --> 00:43:06.559 Heavenly Father, here I am. 00:43:07.840 --> 00:43:13.760 And then be still and listen for his voice and his prompting. 00:43:14.000 --> 00:43:20.480 So you can sit back, you can relax, close your eyes, take a deep breath if you want. 00:43:22.719 --> 00:43:23.840 And take a moment. 00:43:28.800 --> 00:43:29.760 Here I am. 00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:34.719 Would you bring that prayer and then just allow him to speak? 00:43:38.000 --> 00:43:40.320 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:43:40.559 --> 00:43:44.960 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:43:45.119 --> 00:43:47.199 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:43:47.360 --> 00:43:53.280 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.