FAST 2026 | Meditate - Pastor Scott Silcox

A call to fast and meditate on Scripture with Psalm 119 as a guide, moving from pressure to renewal and from distraction to devotion. We map passages to life stages—youth, parents, the anxious, the weary, and the waiting—and share a simple framework to read for transformation.

• fasting from food and media to create space for God
• meditation as formation not information
• Psalm 119 as a path for identity and direction
• renewal for parents and sustainable family rhythms
• anchoring anxious minds in truth not circumstances
• promises as fuel for perseverance when unseen
• peace as alignment rather than escapism
• five questions to turn reading into obedience

Chapters

• 0:00 Setting The Fast And Focus
• 3:20 Receiving God’s Delight
• 6:50 Week Two: Meditating On Scripture
• 10:40 Fasting From Food And Media
• 14:30 Reclaiming Biblical Meditation
• 18:20 Isolation As Meeting With God
• 23:00 Call To Men And Youth
• 27:40 Tools, Guides, And Psalm 119
• 31:00 Youth: Word As Path Not Fence
• 37:20 Families: Renewal Not Pressure
• 43:20 Anxious Hearts: Truth As Anchor
• 49:10 The Weary: Promises As Fuel
• 55:20 Hope In Waiting And Pain

Transcript

Setting The Fast And Focus

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome to the Rock Family Sermon of the Week. For more information about our church, please visit therockfamily.tv. Now join us for a message from Pastor Scott Silcox.

Receiving God’s Delight

Week Two: Meditating On Scripture

Fasting From Food And Media

Reclaiming Biblical Meditation

Isolation As Meeting With God

Call To Men And Youth

SPEAKER_01 0:20

Man, man, God is so faithful, so good, so so magnificent. Um it's been a wonderful um as you as you might might tell, man, just just when when the body of Christ uh dedicates um uh devoted time to the Lord in fasting and prayer, we shouldn't be shocked that he shows up so so quickly and and so uh so um um I what's the right word? Tangibly. Tangibly, thank you. It was so quick for y'all to be there. Tangibly, and um, and so uh I'm I am I'm so um I'm so overwhelmed with the love of of Jesus and and what and what he he comes in fact Adam is so perfectly right on today as he led through the the conversation as the he he even talked about the Lord delighting in us uh as this week has been full of our our number one focus is to delight in the Lord and and then in in return uh and I even said this in prayer six o'clock morning prayers that sometimes it's hard. It's easy for me to delight in him, but it's hard for me to sometimes receive his delight over us. You know, because you know who you are, you actually know who you are, and so there's some you disqualify yourself oftentimes when you think about him delighting in you, and yet it's it is the joy of being connected to you. It's what it's what kept him on the cross was us. The the love that he had towards us before we even knew we needed it, amen. And so this this is such a such a beautiful picture of what it is to let the Lord delight in you, but also I just want to say this as we kick off this next week uh in the fast. It's three weeks, and the second week is all about meditation or meditating on the word of God. Now, there's something that was played out in service which I I no one is is orchestrating. I just want other than the Lord and the Holy Spirit, right? So I just want to be very clear. We did not make make this this up, but there is a reason why I believe this morning there was a lingering and a settling and a sitting with the presence of the Lord because it is actually to set the pace for this week. There is there is um there is a meditation that takes time. It's it's it what what what what our worship team so faithfully did with us is to to extend that time so we can understand what we're talking about even today, about waiting on the Lord. I uh how many times have you sat down to go through your devotion, your Bible reading, your little prayer time, and you really can't stop looking at the clock and you know, I've got 15 minutes, I've got to get it in, or I've got this, or I've got that. And all of a sudden you've created some kind of boundary to what he's going to do, and yet this week is all about taking some of those limitations off and just allowing him to move in to your space. And that, and I'm telling you, for some of you, that's gonna mean extended time with him. And I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna shock somebody. Some of you, it's actually gonna mean less of you talking and you getting more out of the just few minutes that you have. You'll find out if you'll posture your heart to receive from him without restraint, he will actually show up in 30 seconds and wreck your world. He will just wreck your world. And and what I mean by that in the most kind way, I don't mean like like ruin your life, but kind of he will. He ruins the way you look at life. Things that were in in what you thought were in real clear view, all of a sudden, when he gets in it, things become like hyper color, hypersensitive, and then he begins to give like crystal clear clarity to something that you couldn't get. But but but when you wait on the Lord, when you purpose to wait on him, he will revolutionize your prayer life. And this this week of fasting, though it is not just a fast where we we started with like our social media stuff and any media that that is bringing a distraction in your life, we've encouraged you to sit that down this week. I'm asking you to stack on this week on top of that is a food fast. So I want you to take some time and pray about what it is that you're you're to step away from. And I and I want to say this fasting is fasting. I can't make excuses for this. Fasting in the Bible means to abstain from food. All right, so many times we want to try to come up with all the other ways you can also fast, which I will tell you are also available to you. I I'm telling I'm I'm not I'm not saying if there's medical reasons why you can't fast food and you need to do something differently, please do what needs to be done. But but when we talk about a fast, it's to step away from those things that are feeding our flesh in substitution to him feeding our spirit. And there is a physical act to that. There is a physical act to that, there is a physical expression of withholding from myself what is good and delicate and amazing, right? That is just awesome and it feeds the flesh, is to physically step away from that and then allow him to fill it with something spiritual. And so what that usually looks like is when you would normally eat, like for your breakfast hour, you're you're substituting that with time with the Lord. So instead of sitting at the physical table of food, you're sitting at the spiritual table where he can restore your soul. To take time during the lunch hour. Yeah, but you don't understand, I work hard and I need that fuel, great. Then find some part of those meals you can fast. If that's breakfast, lunch, dinner, if that's one of the two, two of the three, whatever that looks like, I'm encouraging you to lean in this week as we fast food on top of social media. Now you might say, Why do we have to do two weeks in social media? This was tough. This is tough. That's also food for the soul. That's the problem. That's the problem. It was never meant to feed your soul in the proper way. And what we're trying to do is condition our souls, our bodies, our spirits again to receive the nutrients that we were created for as believers in Christ. And that's time spent with him. Amen. Can you hear that this morning? Can you hear that this morning? And and and don't be shocked when he slides in on you. Don't be shocked when he slides in on this dedicated time. I would encourage you, lean back and meditate. Now, you you might say, Pastor Scott, you're out on the edge using words like meditation. Like, like, what are we doing? This sounds super new agey. Listen, don't let the world take. Don't continue to let the world take and re-re recategorize what language is, what it's meant, how it's to be used. This meditation is a very old practice, monastic practice, which by the way is God's call to the body. God's call to the body of Christ is a way of a monastic life, meaning one that's set apart, one that is giving room for Christ to press into and to rehearse back to him who he is. It isn't because God is confused about who he is, it's just that in that repetition, my soul bears witness of who he is in this world and in my life. It's dedicated time of okay, sorry. People are giving me the mic sign. Is this better? Alright, if it slides down again, say something. The monastic life is that set apart time. It's it's there is a portion of that lifestyle that's in isolation. Now that scares some people because, like, I can't be alone. I don't like being alone. When I'm alone, I get nervous, you know. But but but I want you to think of it differently. This isolation is not isolation into you and into internal lies about you. This is isolation as in like a date with the Lord. So you're not really alone, you're you're with God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are present with you. You gotta you gotta reframe it sometimes so that you can you can confidently walk into that place. You don't need your spouse there with you. I got news news for you. You can hear God too. You you you don't have to hold your spouse's hand and hope that you can hear. No, you the invitation is for you to come with him so that he can renew you, so you can be the husband you're supposed to be. I'm talking to my fellas. You can't you can't wait on her to send you the Bible lesson for the day. Come on, somebody, she's already raising all your children. She's got enough on her plate. Got enough on her plate. Like, like you, you, you gotta get up, shake yourself, and get in a relationship with the Lord. Right? And I'm I'm not picking on men, but I'm picking on men. Right? This requires something of us. Young people, you're not you're not exempt. You're not exempt. Don't give me I'm too young. What just just hang that stuff up? Hang it up. Like you, you know how to spend your time better than anybody. You spend it in a thousand different ways on in front in front of a thousand different screens. Can I tell you you can give up some time? This is important for you as believers, as kids who are giving their heart to Christ. You need to learn this lifestyle now. This is where it's formed, this is where disciplines are formed. This is where when when you when you start looking like us. Yeah, I know. That's not good news. I'm looking at their faces too. I I hate I'm gonna look like this too. But before we get here, we're building the disciplines. We're building the hunger here. I want hunger there, right? We want to feed the hunger there. We're gonna talk about that for just a second. I am in no way, there's absolutely no, in God's green earth, there's no way I'm hitting all this that I gotta talk to you today. I I told Tim, Christian, I was telling Christian, I've got more slides than I've ever had in ever. And that's not good. That's good because I haven't gotten it with like 10 slides, much less 25. Um what'd you say? It's a take-home message. That's what my wife said. It's a take-home message. Thanks, babe. God don't. Oh my gosh. Look look at that helpmate doing helpmate stuff. Huh? Called. Love it. It's an inside joke for all of our guests. We love you. We're so happy you're here today. And uh we we welcome you, we greet you, thank you for being here today. Um I just want to hit a couple of things with you. I'm gonna hit high-level points. Uh, all of the the screens and stuff are on the app. You you can have access to that, it'll all be out there. I encourage you, uh, the fast uh booklet prayer guide is is is there available via tap, which is in the circle, red circle that's right in front of you, uh, or right behind you, depending if you're in the front row. You can always tap that. You'll get access to the prayer guide for this week, walking us through what it means to meditate on the word of God. Small devotionals, some scripture to lean into. But one scripture I want us to lean into probably more than anything this week. In fact, my encouragement is I'd like you to try to do this. If we can do this as a group, and I I know everyone hates group projects, you know. I mean, just like the good news is you're not being graded on it, technically, but it is an invitation to kind of let's do it together. And that is this. We're gonna go through Psalms 119 together. It's the longest Psalms uh in it's actually the longest chapter in the book. I mean, man, the thing's huge. Huge. 170 something verses in there, right? That's a lot of verses. How many know that when you're when you're when you're talking about the idea of meditation, I want to kind of just kind of walk through Psalms 119 as a way of looking and a way of meditating on the word. I want to start by saying, I I do not suggest you try to crunch through the next seven days of meditating on all of those verses. So I just want to be really clear. I don't I don't expect you to crunch through that and act like you've meditated on something. Because it's just not gonna happen. You're gonna read through it, you're gonna pass over some things. However, I would ask you to pray into God, where am I in this passage? And then to stay in that groupings of verses and then turn around and just pray into it over and over and over. Uh it's so funny, Christian said this, and I thought he's exactly right about this. The the longest Psalms and the longest chapter in the Bible is sort of like a landmark that you go and visit. You know, it's sort of like one of those things you drive out of your way so you can see it like a giant dinosaur. I'll give you an example of what that looked like for me as a kid. We went on a trip, we were going to San Antonio, it was amazing. We were so excited. My dad was super excited because he's been studied up on the Alamo, he's gonna teach us all about it. He is so pumped, he can't wait to give us the education that we need, right? And he is fired up. He's studied up, he's studied, he's ready, he's been gassing us up the entire trip. I can't wait to take you guys out. We're gonna go out, take a whole day trip, be a part of it. We're gonna experience it, you're gonna listen, you're gonna come alongside of me, and I am going to teach you American history. I'm just gonna do it. I'm excited for it. Of course, if you're if you have kids, you know that no matter what trip you're on or what like agenda you have or whatever you think you're getting out of the trip, the kids really just want to swim. You know what I'm saying? It really just doesn't even matter what you're saying right now, like, yeah, that sounds great, sounds great. All I hear is like we're gonna swim all day. Right? That's all my kids hear, that's all they want to do. That's all anybody, if you have kids, no matter how much they're telling you they're interested in your history lesson, they just want time at the pool. Period. So that's really where I was at. We get there, we fly in, we find the hotel, we get there, and and and the the people at the desk, oh, we kept putting you in a very special room, and we're like, special room, you know, when you're a kid, you're traveling for the first few times of your life, you're just fired up, right? It's all the experiences. We get up into the room, you do what all kids do when you get in there, you jump on all the beds and you do all the things, you tear it up before I don't know why kids, I don't know why you do that, but we do it. Parents are like, get off the bed. This is nice, this is nice. So we're all just having a good time, we're getting ready, and then all of a sudden we go and we just kind of rip back the curtains because you want to see what? The view. Where's the pool? Can I see a view of the pool? Where am I? Where are we at? We rip the curtains back, and it's like the city of San Antonio. We're just like, oh my gosh, it's amazing. And I was like, hey, I don't remember who it was. If it was the Liska or somebody, it was just like, hey, what is that? What is that? And I think we're all just standing near the window, and my dad's just standing there in complete disbelief. It's like the best room they could give us was the room looking at the Alamo. There was no day trip, and all of a sudden the revelation of the children rose. Like we won't have to waste any time going out for a day. We can sit here at this window and you can teach us about the Alamo. And we'll go swimming 10 minutes after that. The greatest day, party like you've never heard. We're jumping around the room, we're hooping and hollering, we're like, yeah, the Alamo! Like it was amazing, and no more defeated man have you ever seen that his history lesson was completely ruined. Psalms 119 is that. You come across it, and it's an incredible view. And it is very interesting because there's a lot of things. It's a literary phenomenon in a lot of ways. It's Pastor Rusty's, he doesn't even know this, but it's where he draws all of his inspiration for sermons because it's the longest acrostic that's ever been. It is one giant acrostic. It is. You take the first letter of the Jewish alphabet, the Hebrew alphabet, and that is it in every single one of those, eight verses in each one of the sections, right? So you take the first letter of the alphabet, eight verses, second letter, eight verses, and it goes all the way through like this. It's incredibly written, and it's not given any credit to any one person who wrote it. And that's important because I believe it's important because it doesn't put the emphasis on how God spoke through one individual. It is God speaking of himself that he cares about everything from A to Z. Everything. It's to help us understand the expansiveness of what God loves, cares for, and desires from us. Now you know the book of Psalms is written to like rhythm. Song. It's to be sung, it's to be worshipped, it's to be praised through, it's to be to be sat in, and like we heard today, many of the songs that they sang, that last song, thank you, Seth, for singing it, man, that's that lives rent-free in my head all the time. That song just uh it never gets old telling you you're worthy. I just like that that phrase, it just, if you sing it enough, that thing gets hypnotic in your head, and you just start letting that wash over you. This is Psalms 19, how you should be approaching it. That same way where it just keeps washing over you. Pastor Russ used to say it's like like how a cow chews the cut. Right? Chews it, swallows it, spits it up. Chews it again, swallows it, spits it up. Isn't that encouraging? That visual just throwing up and chewing and throwing up that's disgusting. But but it it is quite literally. The meaning of what it means to meditate is to continue to chew on it again and again and again and again and not get in a hurry. How many know that that when you're in a hurry, you move past probably the nutrients you need to get out of it? It's because you just blazed through the meal, right? Meditation allows us to get and draw out of it everything that needs to be done. So Psalms 119, and I want to just do like a I this is kind of a weird way to approach this. I told the team this, a few of them, and I just was like, okay, just bear with me. I'm gonna try something. But we're gonna I I chose five groups of people to talk to today that I believe that are in the room. And if I don't hit you, then then just don't take it personal. Just get into Psalms 119 and find where God is speaking to you and live there. But I'm I would just give you an example of what I mean by what it means to lean in, grab a passage of scriptures, and then we'll we'll move forward. And I won't read the full passages, which was the plan, which is why I have a ton of slides. I won't read every verse, but I'll give you the verse reference and then I'll talk about how to apply it. Can I do that? Is that okay just based off of time? Or we can be here to three. Your choice. Let me hear it. Alright? Alright, then you trust that there are scriptures here and that I'm not just blazing through it on accident. So I am going to go buy a couple of things, so pardon me if I slide through some of these things. Ethan, please, if you don't mind, just staying. If you don't mind, I'll go quick and you won't have to be up here forever. This right here is our declaration. You guys remember this from the first week that I started. I encourage you to go back, read this uh in your prayer time. Um I won't go through this, I won't go through this, but we'll start here. First group of people I'm gonna talk to are youth, young adults, right, and those who are searching. If you're searching, you're in the room, you're searching. Where do I fit? Where am I at? I want you to take the first 16 verses this next seven days, the first 16 verses of Psalm 119, and we're gonna I want you to meditate on these. I want you to meditate on these. And and so you see, I have the scripture here, we won't read it, but but go ahead and highlight it, take a picture, write it down, highlight it in your Bibles, the first 16 verses, and this is what we're aiming to get out of it. So just bear with me, I gotta slide through these pretty quick. If it will work. Come on. There it is, right here. This is kind of like the working card for youth, young adults, and the searching. The idea is the question you're asking is who am I becoming? Who am I becoming? The reason I was thinking about you guys in this is because there's this, I'm being shaped and formed. Who am I becoming? What am I turning out to be? And this is not just youth. I'm talking about my young adults or singles out here, right? You're in that formative state. Who am I becoming? This is how I want you to meditate on the word. Is this God's word as a path, not a fence. God's word as a path. When you read these, I want you to say, God, what are you showing me? You're a path, not a fence. How many know God is not trying to close you in and control you, he's trying to guide you.

unknown 23:07

Right, right.

Tools, Guides, And Psalm 119

Youth: Word As Path Not Fence

Families: Renewal Not Pressure

SPEAKER_01 23:08

He's not trying to prevent something, he's trying to empower you into the greatest part of who you're supposed to be. David, this is who I'm talking about. This is your group right here, right? This this is, I'm not trying to lock you down. I'm trying to launch you. I want to launch you. That's what his word is trying to do. Formation before information. Formation before information, right? We don't want things to form in you, want things to change internally, not just information. It's not just knowing. We can't just aggrandize knowing. We want something that's transforming a generation from the inside out. Does that make sense? And then information will come, but we really want formation. And this is the last one is identity shaped early by what you store inside. Your identity. Who am I? I don't know who I am. I don't know what I'm become. What am I becoming? It's that this you're gonna have to see what the Lord says about what's inside of you and the importance of what's inside. Because what is deep within you is gonna manifest. It's going to manifest. And these are the scriptures gonna help you shape that. What are we trying to find out? Direction, identity, and formation. Direction, identity, formation. So for the next seven days, when you crunch through Psalms 119, this is where I want you to live. If you're young, young adult, anybody else that just wants to do it, right? Because I see some people are like, well, I'm young at heart. It's like, well, be young at heart and do this. That's great. You know, anytime you meditate on the word of God, it's good. Amen? But I'm just trying to prescribe. And I know we don't like to do this. My team hates when I prescribe stuff, right? But uh, but I'm doing it anyway because I I think it will be helpful. Does this make sense? Okay, anybody ready for the next group of people? Me too. Next group of people are gonna be this for families, moms, and dads. This is gonna be somewhere where you're at. I've been thinking about this because I am one, and I can feel the pressure sometimes of what that actually means. What does it mean to be dad? What does it mean to be at all things? Like weekends, the last couple of weekends during basketball season, you're you're in four cities in three days. Doing games, but you're trying to be a good dad, and you want to be a good husband, and you're trying to be a good pastor, right? And and yet you have to learn how to prioritize that. Sometimes that stress starts to take on a little more than you you can handle. But the good news is we have a song to sing, and the Lord has given it to us, and and it's through these, and and I there's so much to teach here, but I I can't. Alright. So we get to this card here. What's the question? How do I stay grounded when life feels heavy? How do I stay grounded when life feels heavy? Here's the meditation focus I want you to have moms, dads, families is this God's word as renewal, not pressure. Come on, just let that sit for a second. God's word as renewal, not pressure. He isn't trying to put more pressure on you, he's trying to renew your spirit so you can be his best expression on the earth. Do you know his first plan was family, not church? And when you get that thing mixed up, his big idea was family. Families gathered together as the church. Come on, somebody. So he's trying to renew that. He doesn't want to add more pressure, it's renewal. God's word is to renew that. How about this? Teaching by example, not perfection. I say this with my wife in mind. There are many times where my wife wished she could do more. Feels like she's doing all she can, and is trying to do it the way it the society says you're supposed to do it. Our generations before her said there's a better way. And so there's a pressure pack on how to be mom at all stages. But here's the good news He is not asking you to be perfect, he's asking you to lead by example. Instead of trying to do it perfect, guide your family, your kids along with you by example. Like one way we're doing that in the fast with our kids is to everyone is, we've had them all choose a thing we're gonna be fasting food-wise for them. That's right. Our kids are gonna do some type of food fast this week. Now, I would love not to feed them at all and save some dollars. But Britt wasn't down with that. So I don't, she was like, okay, hold on, hold on. I was like, man, we're gonna save a couple hundred bucks this week. And so we decided to feed him. So good news, David. We're gonna feed our kids. You know, you do what you need to do. Uh but we're gonna choose something, right, that is a sacrifice for them so that we can continue to what? We're we're leading by example. Here's how mom and dad are doing it, and here's how you're gonna do it. We're gonna do it together. And we're gonna reflect on scripture together. How about this? Uh, life-giving rhythms in an exhausting season. The word of God, this meditation in this passage is going to help you, if you'll ask, how can I create a rhythm even though I'm exhausted? You know, there there you can actually find a place in him in the middle of your natural causes, your natural chaos, he can still bring peace in the middle of that. He can teach you a rhythm of life. It may mean a little early, it may mean a little extra. Whatever it is, he'll teach you the rhythm. This is what I'm I'm saying is a pursuit in these passages. Are you guys are you guys tracking me? Those passages are real simple. Those are verses 17 through 32. Now I'm not going through the entire chapter like this. You'll see, we'll skip around here in just a second, but these happen to land all within the first. But 17 through 32. All right, and then what we're what are we trying to get? Stability, teaching, and passing it on. The idea that what I have is generational and I have to give it away. Right? I have to form this in my kids. That's my responsibility. Moms, dads, families. Next. Third group, for the anxious, the fearful, and overwhelmed. If you find yourself there, you probably know somebody. You can pass this along to them. For the anxious, fearful, and overwhelmed, right? This is verses 33 through 48. It is this what do I fix my attention on? What gets my attention? Where should I be putting my focus? Here's the three points of meditation I want you to do when you're reading through these passages of scripture. God's word is an anchor. God's word is an anchor. When you feel like the ship is is all over the place. When you have felt like, if you're in this room and you feel like it's my world has felt like me just on an abandoned sea being just punched around, where it just feels chaotic. Feels like every time I look up, it's another storm that's pushing me off course of where I'm actually trying to get to. I'm talking to you. I'm talking to you. And this is realizing that what what this psalm is talking about is how to anchor yourself. How to anchor yourself. Not to get pushed left into the right, but how to anchor yourself through the word. Choosing what shapes your imagination. For the anxious and the fearful, your imagination gets the best of you most of the time. And it almost always happens when you're overstressed, no margin in your life, you have no boundaries, you've allowed people in to dictate things so they see bad thoughts, bad agendas. You've given voice to a disgruntled family member. You've taken on their offense. These are symptoms of what it looks like to live an anxious, fearful life, and why you need to get victory over your imagination. How many times do you then project in on situations that they must be talking about me? You can't get into a room without somebody having a personal conversation without you thinking you were the center of it. These are where you meditate to find out where you can get that figure. Courage rooted in truth, not circumstances. What I mean by that is the word of God being a superior truth, then what you think is like circumstantial. You say, if I were just in a better situation, then I could hear more clearly. If I was in a better situation, if the circumstances were right, then I could respond. And he's saying, it is not circumstantial. Because Christ is in and around and in the middle of all things. When you invite him there, no matter what circumstances you brought in, he becomes the Lord of. Oh, you don't believe it. You don't hear it. Do you understand what I'm saying? You, whatever world that you created that is in chaos with one invitation, you can be encouraged when you're rooted in truth and know that the truth is still the truth, no matter how chaotic it is. Psalms 119, you can get all this there. Now don't try to do all of them. Just saying, you're gonna try to do all of them and let the Lord work on you. Chew it up, small bites. Spend time with it. Amen. What are we doing? We're getting security in an unstable world. Fear, anxiety, worry, it's too chaotic, it's too scary. It's not when you're rooted in him. Right? The storm will silence when he's invited into it. Amen. For the weary, strong, and those who keep showing up. The weary, the strong, and those who just don't know how to take no for an answer. Who's just gonna do it anyway? Barry, this is probably you. The mayor. Mayor, I want you to spend time here. Why? Because of this. The question is, how do I keep going? These are in verses 73 to 88. 73 to 88. 73 to 88. You're gonna take those, you're gonna highlight those, you're gonna chunk. This is my where I'm living for seven days. How do I keep going? Meditation focused. God's promises are what? They are as a sustaining fuel. Right? His promises. This is gonna be a place where, if you're in a place where you're saying, how do I continue? You have to say, the sustaining power is not your good. It is him, the fuel, that keeps you going. It's the word of God meditated, sung over my life. His precepts, you're gonna hear that consistently through this passage. Your ways are higher. Your precepts, I lean into you, I yield myself. These are all declarations you're gonna hear. And this is gonna be talking about for one purpose. The fuel to keep you going is not you, it's him. It's the power of the word and work in your life. Amen. Faithfulness in unseen seasons. This is when the enemy tries to tell you you're doing more and nobody's noticing. This is when when you know you're giving all the extra and nobody's giving you an attaboy, it's the word that you really are trying to get. It's his attention you're really wanting. You'll take it from somebody else, but that is actually inferior to what he wants to give you through the word. He wants to put you in the center and say, Hey, Nate, I've seen what you've been doing. And it pleases my heart. It brings joy as you serve me faithfully without what? Praise, without recognition, faithfulness in unseen seasons. There are going to be times where what you do isn't seen. But how many know it is being seen? By the one that it matters the most to. This is a place of meditation for the word, right? And anybody along here, not just Barry, you can all take a part of this. This isn't specifically for him, but I'm just saying. Trust formed over time. The people that are consistent stay in. Those that may have feel like they're weary, and how do I continue to keep going? Here's what is is is gonna come out is that there is a level of trust, not just in the word, but that there's a level of trust in you that comes in over time. And we don't like to say this because we're like, you can't earn more from the Lord. And I'm just gonna say right here in front of everybody, yes, you can. They don't believe this. But there is there is a portion. And what I mean, what what are you saying, Pastor Scott? Earn, I'm not saying earn his love and salvation. You can't earn that. Here's what you can earn with time with him: him trusting you with the presence of the Lord. That's earned. That's earned. Not not his loving kindness towards you and salvation. No, no, no. But but to carry something, that's a trust that's earned. Come on, somebody. Anybody ever giving your kid$10? Trust earned is if the change comes back. Come on, I'm doing this test all the time with my kids. I did it last night at a basketball game. Here it is. I'm gonna count what's coming back. Right? And it cut now my kids understand. It comes back in full and immediate. Because I we did that season where it was like, oh, I forgot it in my pocket. Yeah, yeah. Your pocket aided. I get it. I want the change. Right? Trust. Trust. We're learning how to carry things. Amen. Endurance and inner strength. This is what we're going after in this one. Alright, last group, and I promise we'll we'll close. Okay. I was expecting much more, like, oh my gosh, what a gift. For that, we'll stay till three. I'm going back to the beginning. I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. Alright, so let's do this. Big passage right here. Lots, lots of going on here, encouraging you to get like this is verses 153 to 168. Who's it for? For the hopeful, the hurting, and the waiting. I don't know what you're dealing with today, only you know what's going on. Right? You know where you find out in this list. And I'm giving you like a short list. I didn't even cover all the scriptures. You find all kinds of ways to meditate in Psalm 119. This is just a way I would encourage you to think through it, and that is this. It is, what am I anchoring my hope to? What am I anchoring my hope to? For the hopeful, for the hurting, for the waiting. Where is my hope? Is it in life? Is it in people? Is it in things? Is it in status? Is it in it? What is it in? And it in this is the meditation. Peace as alignment, not escape. You think you want peace so that the demons will be quiet. But what Christ is offering you in the meditation of this passage is alignment of your soul to what is his, what matters to him, and how to move forward. That alignment is infinitely more important than what? Than an escape. I'm not looking for a get out of jail card.

unknown 38:54

So good. Yes, sir.

Anxious Hearts: Truth As Anchor

The Weary: Promises As Fuel

Hope In Waiting And Pain

SPEAKER_01 38:56

Get out of jail card is me making, me being my own God, and when it doesn't work out, I want to get a get out of jail card. What God offers through meditation on this passage is you were trying to still be your God, and He's given you what? An escape. But it's not like you think it is. It is alignment. That escape is not so that you can just forgive your sins. This is where we get the slippery grace. Live like you want to live, and God's got enough grace to cover it. What God wants to do is align your spirit to live like He's asked you to live. It's an alignment of values, alignment of heart. It's an alignment of a motive. It's a motive. Okay. I can just see our look at me. It feels like. Are you here? Am I is this making sense to anybody? Alright. Are we okay, Mary? Are we good? Good. She says yes. Hope shaped by God's faithfulness. That's what you're hoping to get out of this. Hope shaped by his faithfulness. Faithfulness. Sometimes you just need to be reminded he's been faithful when you've been unfaithful. I've lived a life of unfaithfulness, and he says, here I am still being faithful. Consistent. Right? Meditate on these things. Trust that holds in uncertainty. Trust that holds in uncertainty. I even like that one for myself. Trust that holds in uncertainty. Anyone else felt like there's been shaky ground around you? Anybody ever find themselves where it just doesn't feel like you get up a good footing? You're uncertain about some things. This is the in just trust that holds. Come on, just say that way. Trust that holds. Trust that holds. Trust that holds is not the word of my neighbor. Trust that holds is not is not the encouragement that I'm just picking up from other people. The trust I have, the thing I can anchor to is his faithfulness through the word. What Psalms 119 does all the way through declares his trustworthiness, his faithfulness towards us. This is what you can meditate on. What are we trying to do? We're trying to put the future, promise, and trust all in view. Right? He's in control of what? The future. We can trust it. Some of us have some trust issues, don't we? Because other people have been unfaithful, because other things have not worked out. We got trust issues. We got trust issues. We don't want to even be accountable to anybody because we got trust issues. Right? Here's what we can meditate on. Christ can be trustworthy. He has been trustworthy, and he's going to show us how to do that. Amen? Couple of things I would just like to mention to you. I mentioned these a couple weeks ago. Here's some practices that I think will be helpful for us when we come to Scripture. It doesn't matter if it's Psalm 119 or not. In this week, I want you to think through these things as you approach any scripture, any reading at all. Is this scripture meditation rather than information intake? Fight the urge to podcast dump. Fight the urge to pick up a book. Look, I did this. Like I did this. I found an audible book that I thought was really good that would be very helpful. I blew through it in like a few hours, and I was like, I still need to get back in the scripture. I don't want to read or hear something that tells me about the scriptures. Originate from the scripture this week. Originate from the scripture this week. Not someone's interpretation. Even though it might be a powerful, anointed word of the Lord, it might be amazing. Try at best, please, just to park that on the back for just seven days. And allow the scripture to illuminate, allow the Holy Spirit to bring revelation through the scripture to your life in your situation. Can we do that? Alright, so that's what that is. This one, honest self-examination without condemnation. It's very important that when you let the scripture reflect on you, that you don't fall into your feelings. I'm just trying to pastor this moment. Just trying to help you understand. Like, like it's the temptation will be the scripture is going to reveal something about you that God wants from us in exchange. And if you're not careful, you lose the power of the exchange and you get self-absorbed about who you're not. And he doesn't bring it so that you stay where you are, he brings it so that collectively you can go somewhere that he wants you to go. He doesn't bring it so that you waller in your in your guilt. He is not one who wants to condemn you. He wants to give freedom to you. And you're gonna have to you have to learn that that the enemy would love for you to stop at that little rest stop right there and miss the view. Does that make sense? So this is an invitation to get beyond the the the the rest stop and get into the view. Nothing hurts worse, right? Then you stop just a little early, then you could have seen something magnificent, and you were just a little short. You were just like, man, I just stayed here. And and the reason that matters is because we do this third slide when that happens, and that is this. We naming distractions instead of defending them. When you're at the rest stop, own that you earned that. Own it. Meaning, if the distraction is there, own. I recognize this is meant to take time from me and the Lord. Name it instead of defending it. Okay. When it's hard to get up in the morning, your flesh will say, to defend your actions. You had a hard day, you deserve X. So when you when you get hungry in the fast, right, you know you have low blood sugar. Right? That's the that that would be, you know that's really what's going on, and then you say, you know what, that's right. And then what we do is we what? Defend. We defend the seed. I think I have to say, I'm not trying to be legalistic. Do you hear what I'm saying? Only you and the Holy Spirit can wrestle this portion out. I can't be at your house. I'm not gonna be doing meal management for you. I'm not doing it. I'm not doing it. You you you and the Lord have to work that out, and I trust the Lord. Amen. Don't you trust the Lord for you and for our neighbors, right? This isn't me peeking in. This isn't us at work. I'm talking to the staff now. This isn't us going office to office. Hey, what are you doing there? It looks like you had some candy in your mouth. Like, wow, you sure do have fresh breath. How did you get that? The peppermint you just ate, right? I mean, come on, what are we doing? What are we doing? But you say that, but I'm saying you'll get to a point in fasting food where you see somebody just move their jaw right, and you'll be like, I knew they were eating. I knew it. And what do you say to yourself? Well, it must be okay. Right? I'm going to Popeyes. It's humans are we're the funniest people. We will justify some stuff, won't we not? Will we not? Okay. So naming the distractions. When they come, name it. I see it. I see it. I see it. And then move forward into what God has for you. Amen? Okay, five things, five things. And this is the last of it right here. So I went really fast. Five questions. You can ask yourself about any scripture when you're approaching it. Alright? It don't matter if you're in 119. It don't matter if you're in Genesis 1. It don't matter if you decide to do your fast in Revelations. Good luck to you. That's a deep dive. That's a deep dive for not having any food. I'm just telling you. It's a deep dive, and it you know, just can get tough. It gets tough in there. But if you choose to do it, I would suggest you ask yourself these questions when approaching Scripture. What is what is this scripture revealing about God? It's real important. And this is a great way for you to journal. If anybody journals or you want to just write in the margins of your Bible, maybe you highlight a verse, and then maybe I'm even just going to step out there. Here's a little teaching tool for anyone that wants to be a good communicator. We've been talking about this, how to how to make our team better at this, but like maybe even take uh different color highlighters and identify one highlighter for one of these questions, maybe five highlighters, and then you can identify. So when you go back and read scriptures, you don't actually have to go back and figure out what God is saying. You can actually look at the page, quick reference, and turn around. And you can do this in your Bible app, by the way. They have all the highlighters there. You can actually identify this. So whenever you come across across the scripture, what is what is this revealing about God? So then that that lets us know what is he saying about himself. Second thing, what is this awakening in me? So there's a self-reflective part, you know, when I'm reading scripture, what what am I getting out of this? What's it making me want to think or do differently, right? What is the uh realigning, what is this realigning in my life, which I think is really good for you to say, is to say, like, I used to think like this, but the scripture's pulling me into this. Can y'all track with me on this thing right here? I'm just teaching them, but you can use it, you don't have to use it. I just think it can be helpful. You get the most out of meditation on the word. What promise can I hold on to today? It's very important to be able to do this. And there's all these books and resources out there that already went in and just pulled out all the promises of God, and that's pretty amazing. Uh, the the problem with that oftentimes is you don't know where it came from or the context of which it got there, and so you don't actually know the story that got the promise to the surface, and you kind of need to know that portion of it too. You know what I'm saying? It's like it's like catching the punchline from a joke you didn't hear, so you just laugh, but you don't actually know how we got there. But you do it because you feel the social pressure, right? It's amazing, and then you know good and well, you have no clue what has been said or why it was said, right? So this is what you're trying to avoid, right? Trying to avoid that. So, so so you want to kind of highlight the promises along the way so you can refer to those? And then the last one, what is the one step of obedience I can take? What's the action step? What's the action step? The Lord doesn't reveal his word to you just for funsies. Do you guys use that word? He doesn't do that stuff for funsies, it's not just you and him doing funsies. Like, oh, that's funsies. That's amazing. He's a smart one. No, he he reveals these things because he intends for you to put an action step to it. He intends for us to actually take steps towards hear me, sanctification. And that is a word that we're we're not introducing during the fast, but I do think one that you need to recognize is that we are saved, but we are continually being saved. The continually is sanctification, right? So this is why it's important for me to understand this part. What what do you what's the requirement on my part? You you you paid it all, right? You made a way, but I have to act in the way. So action step. That's what you have to pray this, and and and when you do, it's sometimes it's like the most minute little tweak to your life. It really is. It's just like, hey, you used to think about this. I want you to think about it like that. It's a slight turn, but it illuminates totally different. Right? And then sometimes it can be radical. Sometimes it can be super radical, but you just have to be open to it and ask the Lord, what's my what if I I I I I'm just gonna say this too. Ask the Holy Spirit what the action step is. There's there's a dim there's dimensions of prayer and and in conversation with the Lord that really matter. Holy Spirit has been been given, gifted to the body. Listen to me. Holy Spirit's been gifted to the body. That's what Christ said. Christ said, I I've got to go away, but I won't leave you here alone, didn't he? He said, There's coming a day where the Spirit of God is gonna come. The Holy Spirit is here because he gives what? He gives confirmation to everything that the Son has done. And he's here to comfort, bring peace, and to guide us here. Christ made the way through sacrifice, teaching to all the things, and then he did that because it's what the Father said. So so they work in tandem. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. So when you're in this place, I would encourage you, turn your prayer to Holy Spirit. What's the action? Because he comes to mobilize the body. Can I say all that? Stand to your feet. Alright. If you want all the scriptures and stuff and some of the other things, you can obviously do that. I'm excited about where we're at. Next few weeks are gonna be amazing, weeks, days ahead. As the body of Christ makes room for the Lord to speak, to form, and to transform. And I'm excited. Come on, look at your neighbor. This may be the last time you see them like this. Huh? I mean, some of these people are gonna listen, some of these people are gonna lose weight. You ain't even gonna recognize them. And I'm not talking about the weight you think I'm talking about. I'm talking about every week watching the burden on your face finally get lifted, the weight of your shoulders coming up, you being able to take a breath for the very first. Some of you are gonna take deep breaths of the living word of God and of life again, all because we did this. Because the body is doing it together. Come on, I'm just telling you that that there is there's gonna be so much reward on the back side. There's all of the things that you can research and look at. There is the physical reward of fasting, but I'm gonna tell you the spirit reward far outweighs whatever the other thing is. Him and time with him, intimacy with him, pressing into him, reforming, reshaping who we are, creating new appetites. Could anyone agree you need a new appetite? Come on, you've had an appetite for the world, you've had an appetite for the approval of men, you've had an appetite. Come on. Let's just be honest, let's name it. Let's name it the distraction. I've had it. Right? You know how many times I open my phone and an autopilot have hit a social media app? And I just am in shock. Like, what am I doing? My physical limbs are doing things. I'm just like, what am I doing? I know it sounds nuts, but like you, you don't, you, you, you, your body is going to respond. I need a new appetite, Lord. Can we just do that? If you're here today and you say, Yeah, I want a new appetite this week. I want something different than food. I want something more. I want to be taken into that place that we're talking about. Intimacy with the Lord, God. I I this is our desire today. If that's you, I'm just gonna lift your hands and we're just gonna pray for a fresh grace for the next seven days. Right? Time with him, time with him, time with him. It is so important. Now, God, we're asking you to recalibrate our hearts, our appetites, our agendas, our motives. All of us, Lord, we lay at your feet, yielded vessels, fresh and anew. God, we ask you to open up our hearts, our spirits to receive from you. God, we thank you in advance that as we meditate on the word of God, as it reflects the light of Christ in the darkest places of our heart and our spirit, God, we yield ourselves. We ask you, give us a grace, a fresh grace to walk out this next few days. God, I pray as each of us, God, put our hearts and soul in this, Lord, that you would just reveal your love and extreme delight over your people today. Guide us into areas of our life, Lord, that can be painful and hurtful and distracting. And God, help us not to stay there, but show us a way out. Rather, show us a way in to the presence of the Lord, your truth to illuminate all of those areas. God, we thank you today. God, we do. We wash our face today. We're here applying the oil fresh and anew to our heads. God, we are awake, we are not depressed, and we are not frustrated. I pray the days ahead will be days of life, God. Hope. God, I pray that there begin to build a hunger in us in the anticipation to be with you, and in anticipation to let your light shine through us as vessels. God, we take this time to replenish the oil, trim the wicks. We don't want to be a body who smokes, but we want to be a body who gives off light. Who gives off light. That is our heart's desire today. God, we love you. We thank you for what you're doing in our church. We bless your people. God, I pray you go with us. God, as you work through us, God, may your kingdom be advanced. God, that you would be glorified in all that we do. We give you the glory, the honor, and praise in Jesus' name. Everyone said, Amen, amen, amen.

SPEAKER_00 58:13

We hope and pray this message was encouraging and impactful. Join us live on our website or Facebook on Sundays at 9 and 11 a.m. You can stay connected with us on Facebook and Instagram at the Rock Family.