Latest / Max Lucado Daily Sermons / Being Led by an Unseen Hand- Minister Max Lucado

Transcript

Being Led by an Unseen Hand- Minister Max Lucado · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: The final in a four part series under the theme
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: have you prayed about it we're asking the Lord to
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: remind us of his desire that we always pray and
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: never lose hope you know it's a wonderful thing when
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: we learn to work with God instead of for God
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: it's a wonderful thing when we learn to work With God.
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: Instead of for God. Many years of my life. I
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: felt like I was working for God. God was the
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: gracious CEO. And he would send me out to do
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: my work. But I was on my own. Oh he
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: was just a text away. Or a fax away. Or
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: a phone call away. I was working for him. But
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: then I realized that. The better understanding is that we
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: are working with God. The passages like 2 Corinthians chapter
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: 6 and verse 1 says we are co-workers with God. Co-laborers,
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: partners with Him. And so really the better idea is
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: that we never leave the presence of God. He doesn't
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: send us out and then we endure a time of separation.
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: Just the opposite. He accompanies us and we accompany Him
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: And there is this reciprocity, there is a mutuality, a
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: communion that never ceases. Boy, that changes the paradigm. That
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: means that no place we go is absent God. That
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: means that there's not a day in your week that
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: is an unholy day. That means you never leave church.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: That every place is a sanctuary. And the universe is
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: God's workshop. So you're always in his workshop. We may
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: lose our presence. Our understanding or sensitivity to God's presence
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: may diminish. But since his presence does not depend upon
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: our awareness of his presence. The presence really never ceases.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: So that raises questions. I think a wonderful question. If
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: God really is present. All the time. Is it possible
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: to enjoy. Unceasing communion with God. Is it possible. To
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: live in such a way. That minute by minute. We sense.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: And enjoy. The intimacy. Or the communion with God. Many
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: years ago. a man set out to answer this question.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: He wrote this paragraph. Can we have contact with God
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: all the time? All the time awake, fall asleep in
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: his arms, and awaken in his presence. Can we attain that?
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: Can we do this, do his will all the time?
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: Can we think his thoughts all the time? Can I
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: bring the Lord back in my mind flow every few seconds? Yes.
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: so that God shall always be in my mind. I
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: choose to make the rest of my life an experiment
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: in answering this question. These are the words of Frank Laubach.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: Frank Laubach was born in the United States in 1884.
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: He had a heart for the illiterate. He taught governments
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: and nations to teach people to read So they in
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: turn could discover the beauty of scriptures. What fascinates me
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: about Frank Laubach is not just his commitment to teach,
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: but even more his commitment to listen and to be taught.
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: At the age of 45, sensing a dearth in his
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: own spiritual life, he set out to, I'm reading again,
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: live in continuous inner conversation with God. And perfect responsiveness
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: to his will. He chronicled this experiment. This experience in
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: his journal. And I'm so thankful that we did. Because
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: here we have the life of a man. Who set
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: out to pray without ceasing. To live in the presence
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: of God. Keep in mind as I share just three
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: or four paragraphs from his journal. That Frank Laubach was
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: not a monk. In a monastery. He wasn't even a
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: pastor in a pulpit. He wasn't on a permanent retreat.
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: But he was a very busy consultant to governments. And
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: to institutions. Training people to train people to teach people
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: to read. He had a busy schedule. He traveled the world.
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: Especially in a day before many people were traveling the world.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: And yet there he set out in the midst of
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: it all to live with this spirit of communion with
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: his heavenly father. I think you're going to like what
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: he wrote. He began the experiment on January the 26th, 1930.
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: I am feeling God in each movement, he wrote, by
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: an act of will, willing that he shall direct these
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: fingers that now strike this typewriter, willing that he shall
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: pour through my steps as I walk. March 1st, 1930.
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: This sense of being led by an unseen hand, which
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: takes mine, while another hand reaches ahead and prepares the way,
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: this grows upon me daily. Sometimes it requires a long
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: time early in the morning, but I determine not to
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: get out of bed until my mind is set upon
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: the Lord. April 18th, 1930. I have tasted a thrill
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: in fellowship with God which has made anything discordant with
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: God disgusting. This afternoon, the possession of God has caught
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: me up with such sheer joy that I thought I
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: had never known anything like it. God was so close
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: and so amazingly lovely that I felt like melting all
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: over with a strange bliss. Having had this experience, which
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: comes to me now several times a week, The thrill
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: of filth repels me, for I know its power to
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: drag me from God. After an hour of close friendship
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: with God, my soul feels clean as new fallen snow.
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: May 14th, just a month later. Oh, this thing of
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: keeping in constant touch with God, of making him the
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: object of my thought and the companion of my conversations.
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: This is the most amazing thing I have ever run across.
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: It is working. I cannot do it even half a day,
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: not yet, but I believe I shall be doing it
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: someday for the entire day. It is a matter of
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: acquiring a new habit of thought. Ten days later, he
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: wrote these words. This is my favorite phrase. This concentration
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: upon God is strenuous, but everything else has ceased to
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: be so. I think more clearly. I forget less frequently.
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: Things which I did with a strain before, I now
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: do easily and with no effort whatever. I worry about nothing.
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: Anyone like to be able to say that? I lose
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: no sleep. I walk on air a good part of
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: the time. Even the mirror reveals a new light in
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: my eyes and face. I no longer feel in a
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: hurry about anything. Everything just goes right. Each minute I
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: meet calmly as though it were not important. Nothing can
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: go wrong except one thing, and that is that God
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: might slip from my mind. Last Monday was the most
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: completely successful day of my life to date so far
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: as giving my day in complete and continuous surrender to
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: God is concerned. I remember how as I looked with people,
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: looked at people with the love God gave, they looked
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: back and acted as though they wanted to go with me.
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: I felt then that for a day I saw a
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: picture of that marvelous pull that Jesus had as he
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: walked along the road day after day, God intoxicated and
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: radiant with the endless communion of his soul with God. Boy,
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: I'd love to know what you think of this experiment.
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: you think it's within reach you think it even makes
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: sense or is this something that's just reserved for fanatics
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: my concern is that you might hear an example like
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: this and say oh no there's yet another thing i
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: have to do. I mean, life is tough enough as
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: it is. If I ever present prayer as something as
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: another thing that you have to do, then I have misspoken.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: Because according to the Bible, prayer is what gives us
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: power to do the things. And to do the things
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: that we want to do with a lighter step. And
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: a deeper faith. What if we could live an unbroken communion.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: With our heavenly father. Every day. All day. Sensing his presence.
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: Following his touch. Can we enjoy unbroken communion with God?
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: Two answers to that question. First Jesus did. Jesus did.
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: This was a trademark of his life. Have you seen
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: this verse in John 5.19? The son can do nothing
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: on his own. But only what he sees the Father doing.
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: Whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. Isn't that interesting?
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: Jesus says, I can't do anything on my own. Only
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: what I hear and what I see the Father doing.
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: John 5, 30. I can do nothing on my own.
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: As I hear, I judge. And then he said later,
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: I am in the Father and the Father is in me.
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: Jesus would respond as God would prompt. No act or deed...
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: occurred without his father's guidance. There were a few occasions
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: back in the days in which Deanlin and I lived
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: in Brazil that I served as a translator to an
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: American visitor to our church. And I learned early that
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: the job of a translator is not to give his opinion,
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: but to simply communicate the opinion of the speaker, right?
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: And I even learned that a good translation... A good
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: translator takes on the personality of the speaker, using his
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: or her gestures, raising his voice when he or she does,
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: following the style and the format. You kind of stalk
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: the person speaking and just try to shadow and communicate.
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: Jesus here says, I'm the translator. When God speaks, I speak.
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: When God judges, I judge. As if to say, whenever
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: God wants to communicate, he has within me an able translator.
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: If God wants to raise his voice, I raise my voice.
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: If God wants to be gentle, I'm gentle. You suppose
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: God desires the same for us? Absolutely. Paul says that
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: we have been predestined to be conformed to the image
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: of his son. So the reason the story of Jesus
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: is in the Bible is Is not only so we'd
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: know he came to save us. But so we would
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: have a picture of the person God wants us to be.
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: God wants you and me. Yes you and me. To
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: be his translators. To live in such close communion with him.
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: That when he speaks we speak. When he raises his
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: voice we raise our voice. When he judges we judge.
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: And we live in such communion with him. That we
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: respond and become him, his presence on the earth. Jesus
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: did this and you can. You can do this. You
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: can do this. The Bible offers some wonderful images that
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: are used to describe the kind of intimacy or relationship
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: that God wants to have with you and with me.
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: One of these images is a vine and a branch.
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: Jesus said, I am the vine and you are the branches.
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: If any remain in me and I remain in them,
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: they produce much fruit. But without me, they can do nothing.
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: If you remain in me and follow my teachings, you
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: can ask anything you want and it will be given
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: to you. How close is a vine to a branch? Anybody?
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: What is it, about a foot apart? Three feet apart?
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: Two inches? They're connected, aren't they? There is no distance
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: between the vine and the branch. If there is, what?
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: That branch is history, correct? Because when the vine and
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: the branch are connected, there's an endless exchange of nutrients
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: and life and growth. Is there a time in which
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: the gardener says, okay, I'm going to take all the
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: branches and I'm going to put them in the barn
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: and then I'm going to come back and reattach them
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: so that they can bear fruit? No, he leaves them there.
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: How long every day? I think 24 hours a day.
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: Am I right? I'm not a gardener. I may be
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: messing this up. But my hunch is he leaves them
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: there 24 hours a day because he knows it is
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: necessary for the vine and the branch to be in
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: constant communion. And when there is constant communion, when there
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: is a sense of remaining, remaining, then the result is
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: going to be what? Fruit. There's going to be fruit.
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: If we think of prayer as something that happens once
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: or twice a day in which we are lifted out
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: of the barn and attached to Jesus for just a
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: few minutes in which he downloads a bit of power
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: within us or a bit of wisdom within us, then
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: I think we're missing what prayer really is. Prayer is
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: this sense of remaining with God like a vine and
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: a branch are connected all day long. And at the
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: right time, when there is a remaining, when there is
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: a sense of connection, then the branch will bear fruit. Right?
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: It doesn't have to be forced. It doesn't have to
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: be coerced. It doesn't have to be convinced. It just happens.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: It just happens. This is good news. How about this imagery?
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: The temple. The temple. Paul says, don't you know that
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: lives in you and was given to you by God?
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: The next time you look in a mirror. Say these words. Behold.
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: The temple of God. The temple of God. Now if
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: you've read anything about the temple. That Solomon built. You've
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: read anything about Herod's temple. You know that God indwelt
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: the temple. In the holy of holies. That he indwelt
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: the temple. One day a week? One hour a day?
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: Five minutes at a time? If I understand scripture correctly,
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: he never left. He was a permanent presence in the temple.
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: This is good news. This means that God is a
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: permanent presence within you. Wherever you go, God is. Wherever
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: you go, God is. God is present with you. He
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: has chosen to take up residence within you. You know
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: what's good news? His residence within you does not depend
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: upon your perception of him. Because I know what some
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: of you are thinking. Some days I don't feel like
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: God is near. It doesn't matter. Your feelings have nothing
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: to do with it. What matters is that God has said,
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: I will be with you until the end of the age.
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: So he is with you. So long. When you go
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: into the board meeting next week, God is going with you.
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: When you treat the patient next week, God is with you.
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: Whenever you're walking through the grocery store, guess what? God
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: is with you. When you're taking the test at school,
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: God is with you. God is in you everywhere you go.
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: You remain in him and you bear fruit. You remain
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: in him. In other words, you engage with him. You
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: commune with him. You talk to him. And you know
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: what's going to happen? You're going to bear fruit. There's
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: going to be love. There's going to be joy. There's
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: going to be peace. It's not like you're going to say, okay,
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: bear fruit, bear fruit. You don't have to force it.
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: Every so often I go to my favorite restaurant. Maybe
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: you've been there. It's called Rudy's Barbecue. And when I
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: go to Rudy's, I love not just the food but
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: the fragrance. And I'll order my food and I'll sit
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: down and I'll eat probably way too much. And I
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: just kind of get that fragrance all over me. And
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: when I leave Rudy's and I go back to the
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: office or I go home or I go see somebody,
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: everybody knows where I had lunch. Right? Why? Well, because
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: I've just... gotten intoxicated. I've just absorbed. I think it
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: goes all the way down into your liver and your
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: kneecap and your spleen. And it just stays there for
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: years and years. You don't have to force it. You
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: don't have to say, okay, I'm going to smell like
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: barbecue today. I'm going to smell like barbecue today. You
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: don't have to do that. But there's something about just
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: being in the presence of it that you leave and
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: you carry it with you. The Bible calls us to
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: be the fragrance of Christ, the fragrance of Christ. You
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: don't have to force it. You don't have to conjure
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: up some religious language. You don't have to all of
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: a sudden put on a holy face when you're around people. Listen,
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: if you are connected with Christ and you're remaining in
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: contact with Him, you're thinking about Him on an hourly basis,
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: maybe even like Frank Laubach, a minute-by-minute basis, you're communing
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: with Him, you recognize that you're the temple itself, he
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: is within you then it's going to come out there's
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: another image in scripture and that is the sheep with
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: the shepherd many times scripture calls us the flock of
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: god we are the people the sheep he tends We
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: don't need to know much about sheep to know that
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: a shepherd never leaves the flock, right? Shepherd never leaves
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: the flock. If you see a flock of sheep coming,
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: you know the shepherd is nearby. Because that's what a
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: shepherd does. Even though I walk through the valley of
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: the shadow of death. David said, I will not be
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: afraid because you are with me. And your rod and
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: your staff, they comfort. So all this works together to
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: remind us that God is as near to you as
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: a vine is to the branch. As present in you
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: as God is in the temple. As devoted to you
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: as a shepherd to his sheep. With this mindset, all
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: of a sudden some of these verses in scripture that
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: have caused us to scratch our heads begin to make sense.
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: Like this one, pray without ceasing. Or this one, be
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: constant in prayer. Pray in the Spirit at all times.
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: Continue steadfastly in prayer. In everything, let your requests be
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: made known to God. And so I have to ask,
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: what would it be like if we prayed without ceasing?
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: What would it be like this week, church, this week,
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: if we did our best to live in unceasing communion
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: with God? How many domestic arguments Would be diffused. If
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: a husband and wife. Were doing their best. To live
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: in a constant sense. Of God's presence. How many arguments.
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: Would never take place. How many angry words. Would go unspoken.
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: How many stubborn attitudes. Would never be hatched. How many
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: tempers would never be prompted? How many acts of adultery
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: would not occur if we were living in a constant
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: sense of God's presence? How many visits to pornographic websites
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: would never happen because our mind is full of the
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: presence of God? And conversely, How many acts of kindness
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: would take place? How many words of encouragement would be given?
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: How many smiles would be seen? How much more happiness
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: would there be in your life and in mine? Well,
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: how can we do this? How can we try to
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: live in the presence of God? I've got four ideas
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: real quickly. I have three minutes to share them. So
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: hang on. First of all, give God your waking thoughts.
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: Let him be the first thing you think of when
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: you wake up in the morning. I have a friend
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: who tells me that when he wakes up in the morning,
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: he rolls over and lands on his knees. He went
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: to bed on his, just he prayed before he went
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: to bed. The last thing he did before he got
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: into bed was get on his knees. So he says,
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: the first thing I do in the morning is roll
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: over and land on my knees and start where I
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: was when I went to bed. That's a nice thought,
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: isn't it? I don't even make it that far. I
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: just kind of start thinking, try to think about God.
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: Here's what I've learned. If I don't give God my first,
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: my waking thoughts, the devil will take them. Have you
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: ever noticed that? I can be all wound up and
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: anxious before I even get my head off the pillow. C.S.
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: Lewis once wrote, the moment you wake up each morning,
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: you like wild animals. The first job of each morning
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: consists in shoving them all back, listening to that other voice,
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: taking that other point of view And letting that other
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: larger stronger quieter life come flowing in. Here's how the
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: psalmist began his day. Every morning I tell you what
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: I need. And look at this. And I wait for
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: your answer. Which leads us to the second idea. And
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: that is give God your waiting thoughts. Before you get
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: too far in your day. Just wait before the Lord.
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: Just wait before him. You know married couples. If. They've
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: been married for a while. Soon learn that you don't
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: have to always be talking to have a relationship, right?
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: Just being together is special. Make sure that you have
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: some time each morning. Why don't you just wait before
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: the Lord? Just wait. Just be quiet. Let everything slow down.
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: Be still and know that I am God, we're told.
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: Dan Rather once asked Mother Teresa, What do you say
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: to God when you pray? And Mother Teresa said, I listen.
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: Taken aback, rather tried again. Well, what does God say?
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: And Mother Teresa smiled. He listens. Give God your whispering thoughts.
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: Give God your whispering thoughts. Through the centuries, Christians have
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: learned the value of brief sentence prayers. Prayers that can
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: be whispered anywhere in any setting law back in his
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: journal sought this unbroken communion with god by asking god
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: questions he says every two or three minutes i pray
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: am i in your will god am i pleasing you
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: god can you imagine every two or three minutes lord
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: am i in your will do i need to be
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: corrected am i headed the right direction here am i
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: about to say the right thing help me lord You see,
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: every moment can be a potential time of communion with God.
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: Did you know that by the time your life is over,
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: you will have spent six months at stoplights? Eight months
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: opening junk mail? A year and a half looking for
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: lost stuff? A year and a half! Double that in
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: my account. You will have spent five years standing in
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: various lines. why don't you give all those moments to
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: god why don't you say okay every time i'm waiting
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: in line lord that's our time i'm going to commune
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: with you i'm going to pray for the person ahead
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: of me i'm going to pray for the person behind
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: me pray for the line to move a little quicker
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: no i'm just kidding but you know as you do
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: this by giving what could be stressful moments right What
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: could be and typically are stressful moments to the Lord.
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: All of a sudden the day becomes a day of communion.
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: I've learned. This is kind of crazy. I'm going to
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: tell you anyway. Yeah, I travel a lot. And I've
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: learned the joy of listening to music. Worship music on
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: an airplane. I just put my little earbuds in. And
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: I just worship. I have to guard myself just to
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: not start singing out loud. But my heart's lifted. And
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: then when I get off the plane, of course, they
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: tell you to turn everything off. And that makes me
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: a little mad. But then I turn it right back on.
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: And when I'm walking to catch the next flight, it's
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: really a delight. I know that's hard to believe. Everybody
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: else is cranky. Everybody else is grumpy. But I'm thinking,
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: this is awesome. Who would have ever thought that DFW
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: or O'Hare could be a sanctuary? Every place can. It's
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: all a matter, like Frank Laubach said, Of shifting your mindset.
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: Of shifting your mindset. And then you actually. I know
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: this is even crazy. You actually begin to look forward
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: to trips. And the travel. Everything can be an opportunity.
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: For communion with God. I've never tried it sitting in
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: a dental chair. Maybe this one ought to try to
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: do next. Be sovereign in this hour. Oh Lord. Just
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: over and over we pray. One final thought. I've got
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: to quit. Give God your waning thoughts. Give God your
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: waning thoughts, the last moments of your day, the last
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: moments of your day. Just let your mind settle on him.
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: Maybe you could rehearse the day and say, Lord, what
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: a good day it was. Lord, that was a difficult conversation. Lord,
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: if I spoke out of turn there, I'm sorry. Please
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: forgive me. Lord, thank you. Thank you for the food
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: you gave. You gave me three great meals today, Lord.
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: And all the air I had to breathe. Thank you, Lord,
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: that Just list all the reasons for which you're grateful.
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: And conclude the day the way you began it. And
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: that is in the presence of God. The Bible says
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: that he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: In other words, God's not going to go to sleep.
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: God's not going to go to sleep. So you might
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: as well. Right? No need in both of you stand up.
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: So you just give to him your day and know
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: that he's watching over you as you slumber and sleep.
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: And know that your heavenly father will commune with you
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: even as you're resting. Amen? Amen. Lord, thank you so
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: much that you have given us a word this morning,
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: that you've talked to us. We pray now as we
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: continue to pray to you that you would hear our thoughts,
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: that you would hear our prayer. In Jesus name. All
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: the church said.
• 29:42
  Speaker 3: Amen.
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: Everything I used to live for Faded slowly out of
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: sight Now my days just circle around you Like I'm
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: lost without a light All.
• 36:30
  Speaker 4: The noise just turns to silence When your memory comes
• 36:35
  Speaker 4: through And the world I once was chasing Now feels
• 36:40
  Speaker 4: small And shaped like.
• 36:43
  Speaker 2: You My whole world is.
• 36:47
  Speaker 4: Only you Every thought keeps breaking.
• 36:51
  Speaker 5: Through You're so close inside my mind.
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: But so far in real.
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: Life I can feel you everywhere In the things we
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: never shared All this love I'm going through Never reaches you.
• 37:16
  Speaker 4: Every image feels so real now like you're standing next
• 37:21
  Speaker 4: to me. But the truth is in the silence you
• 37:26
  Speaker 4: were never.
• 37:29
  Speaker 3: Meant to see.
• 37:30
  Speaker 5: My whole world is only you.
• 37:36
  Speaker 4: Every thought keeps breaking.
• 37:37
  Speaker 5: Through You're so close inside my mind But so.
• 37:43
  Speaker 4: Far in real life I.
• 37:46
  Speaker 5: Can feel you everywhere In the things we never shared
• 37:53
  Speaker 5: All this love I'm going through Never reaches you If
• 38:00
  Speaker 5: you felt it for a moment Would it change the
• 38:04
  Speaker 5: way you stay Or would I still be the shadow
• 38:09
  Speaker 5: that just fades away?
• 38:14
  Speaker 3: My whole world is only you But your world's a
• 38:30
  Speaker 3: different view I'm just someone passing by In your open
• 38:37
  Speaker 3: sky Still I.
• 38:39
  Speaker 4: Hold on to what's true Every heartbeat calls.
• 38:44
  Speaker 5: For you All this love I always knew Will never
• 38:50
  Speaker 5: reach you Ooh
• 38:53
  Speaker 3: Ooh