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Learning to Listen | Pastor Kami Palmer | Faith Church · Faith Church Podcast

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Yeah, look around. Tell somebody you missed them
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this week. Let them know that you are praying
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for them and their sickness, right? And so you
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may hear it in my voice. We just came off of
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prayer and fasting, and every year by the time
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the Christmas feasting is done, my flesh... is
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never looking forward to it, but my spirit is
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always in anticipation for the week of prayer
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and fasting, and I was not at all feeling spiritual
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during prayer and fasting. I was down with COVID.
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I missed the prayer nights. I was so bummed,
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and I wasn't feeling like, God, I got to preach
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in a couple weeks. I need to hear from you, and
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all I can do is shiver under the covers. And
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so I was, though, reading as I've been beginning
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my new Bible reading program for this year. I
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was in the book of Job. There's nothing like
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starting out your Bible reading program in the
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book of Job. But when you do the chronological
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study, right, Connie, that's where you really
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are beginning. And so I was in the middle of
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Job, and I came across a verse, and immediately
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my spirit was quickened. And so I want us for
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a few moments today, it's very simple, and I'm
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reading this out of the Christian standard here,
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but in Job 22, 22, it says, receive instruction
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from his mouth and place his sayings in your
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heart. And I was struck by that, especially considering
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that the context of this verse was the book of
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Job. This was a man in suffering, right? Everything
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had been taken from him. He was a man in suffering.
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And here in the middle, we have this verse, receive
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instruction from his mouth and place his sayings
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in your heart. Last Sunday in Petersburg, Derek,
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we all love Derek. You all have to say yes because
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his sister Izzy is over there. Derek, who's at
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College, I had him preach for us in Petersburg.
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And so he did a great job. It was 18 minutes,
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which was one minute faster than the last time
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he had preached it. But it was so full. Wasn't
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it, Vanessa? So full of good things. I said,
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Derek, you've got to slow down just so we can
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digest what you've brought to the table. And
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I was just, as we were worshiping and those words
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were coming forth today, there was one thing
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that Derek said. He said, when we worship in
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suffering, it is not denial. Right? We're not
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denying that everything is going wrong in life
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when I worship. So when we worship in suffering,
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it is not denial. But worship in suffering is
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defiance. I was like, oh yeah, that was my big
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takeaway. I only needed 18 minutes to hear that.
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Because I thought of the number of times that
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I stood in that front row. All my life I've been
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a front row worshiper. It's the best place to
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be. And there's room for others. But I remember
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in moments standing, God, my husband thinks he's
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dying. God, I don't know if this child in me
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is going to come out with a heart that is healthy.
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And I remember those, and I say it to you often,
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my most significant moments of worship, because
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it's in those moments that I did feel defiance.
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Satan, I don't care what you're doing. I don't
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care what the circumstance is. I'm going to worship,
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right? And there's that defiance that kind of
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arises out of that. I was like, man, Derek, that
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is so good. I'm going to worship in defiance.
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And there's some of that that has to kind of,
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You know, you kind of got to get a little bit
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of a backbone for that in a way, spiritual backbone
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to say, I am not subject to this life. I am not
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subject to the enemy and his opposition. I'm
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not subject to situations. I will worship. I
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will worship. And so Job is a great lesson in
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this. And so I want us, for a few moments today,
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there's two parts to this verse, right? So we're
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going to spend a few moments in the first part.
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Receive instruction from his mouth. I hope you
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have a notebook today. Should I be taking notes?
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If not, I can find you one. Pull out your notebook.
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Receive instruction from his mouth. We just came
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off prayer and fasting, and we often talk about
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prayer, don't we? We often talk about intercession
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and making requests before the Lord. And we quote
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the verse, you have not because you what? Ask
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not. And so when we think about our prayer lives,
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we are often thinking of that. I better start
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asking. I better start requesting. I better come
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boldly into throne room to make my request known.
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And that's good, and that's proper, and that's
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right. However, how many of you have a friend
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or a family member that is a talker? How many
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of you, that is you? And in those conversations,
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you can't hardly get a word in, right? They're
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just talking, talking, talking. It's a, Todd.
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Catherine and Todd will need marriage counseling
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following this. I'm pretty sure Todd's not the
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talker. She forgives him. When you are talking,
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talking, talking, at what point are you able
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to stop and listen? And so my question for us
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today is, what does your prayer life look like?
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What does your prayer life, Monday, Tuesday,
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Wednesday, Thursday, da -da -da -da -da, what
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does it look like? Are you a talker? Are you
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a listener? Do you ever stop to listen? Or do
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you just talk, talk, talk, talk, God's ear off?
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Right? What does your prayer life look like?
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One of the most famous men in the realm of spiritual
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formation is Dallas Willard. He's got the classic
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book, The Celebration of Discipline. It's an
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awesome book. But he says this, it is much more
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important to cultivate the quiet inward space
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of a constant listening than to always be approaching
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God for specific direction. Now, I'm going to
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say that again. It is much more important to,
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and this word cultivate is a key word there.
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To cultivate means we have to do something to
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make this space. To cultivate the quiet, inward
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space of a constant listening than to always
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be approaching God for specific direction. When
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I read this, what I immediately thought was,
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this is the difference between striving and abiding.
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The difference between striving and abiding.
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When I am constantly coming to God for, God,
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I need direction. God, I need answer. God, I
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need this. God, I need this. There's sometimes
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a striving in that because we're contending for
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something. But I feel like what he's talking
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about is more the place of abiding with God.
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And when you're in a place of abiding, I cannot
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live in my household with my family and not hear
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what they say. They talk, right? And so abiding
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means I'm not just always talking to God. I need,
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I need, I need, I need, I need help. I'm desperate.
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Ah! That can be what sometimes that feels like
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because we're so worried and concerned. What
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he is saying here is, listen, there's a space,
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an inward space in our spiritual lives where
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there is a quiet place of hearing God, of listening
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to God. And it's impossible to be a listener
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if you are a talker. We think we can do multiple,
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we can multitask, but you cannot multitask talking
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and listening if you're really going to hear
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what is being said. And so I believe that there
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is, we should contend for the victory. We sang
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it today. There is that place of contending for
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something, of believing for something. But I
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believe there's also this place. That is a quiet,
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just, God, what are you saying? And this is the
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place that I want us to spend a few moments talking
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about today because it's not an easy place for
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us in our Western culture. And so in 1 Samuel
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19, verse 11, this is the account of Elijah.
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Now, we are a Pentecostal people. And previous
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to this encounter with God, Elijah has the encounter
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with the 400 prophets of Baal, or if you remember
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that. If you don't know that account, you should
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look it up in 1 Samuel and read it. It's amazing.
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He's the one prophet of God and all these other
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Baal gods that he's up against in competition.
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We're going to call down fire from God, and we're
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going to see whose God is alive. And so they...
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call on their God, and nothing happens. And so
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Elijah steps up to the plate, and he says, bring
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on the water. Anybody try to start a fire with
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wet wood? He's like, pour on the water, on the
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fire. I'm not going to make this easy for God.
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And he calls down fire, right? And then all of
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the prophets of Baal are killed. And then, so
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he just has this experience. Oh, yeah, that would
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be a great Pentecostal experience, wouldn't it?
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Us Pentecostals would be like dancing around
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the fire with Elijah. Yeah! Where we find Elijah
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next, though, is facing Jezebel and running out
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of fear for his life because he's afraid she'll
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kill him. And I love that God, what he does for
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Elijah is he says, Elijah, it's time to take
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a nap. I'm going to give you some food, too.
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Here's some food, and here, take some sleep.
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I love that. And out of that place, then, Elijah
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gets up and runs for 40 days to a cave. And it's
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in the cave. I mean, a cave doesn't sound like
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a great place to be, right? After this great
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mountaintop God experience of calling down fire
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from heaven, he's alone in a cave. And it's in
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this place that God begins to speak to Elijah.
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And it sets Elijah up for some of his final assignments
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from heaven of anointing a new king and anointing
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a new prophet. And so it's in this place that
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God meets with Elijah and says to Elijah, go
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out and stand on the mountain in the presence
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of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.
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Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains
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apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord.
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But the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind,
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there was an earthquake. But the Lord was not
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in the earthquake. After the earthquake came
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a fire. But the Lord was not in the fire. And
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after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah
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heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face.
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and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
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We think that God speaking to us is going to
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look and sound a certain way, and sometimes we
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miss it, because the truth is that God's voice
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is not always an obvious thing. It is a voice
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that we have to learn to know in our life. And
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that comes with intentionally listening for the
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voice. But if we're so busy always talking, talking,
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talking to God, that we're never exercising our
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ears to hear. This voice that is powerful enough
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to create the universe. His voice. His breath
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created the universe. Yet it's a voice that we
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have to tune ourselves to. It's a voice that
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we have to learn. Jesus said it, didn't he? He
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said, my sheep know my voice. Have we made room
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in our prayer life? to know the voice of our
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shepherd. I want you to think about your prayer
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life in terms of a pie chart. How many of you
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like pie charts? Pie charts are nice because
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they give you a quick overview of something,
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right? And so if you have your notebook, you
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can make yourself a pie chart. Otherwise, I want
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you in just the palm of your hand to make yourself
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a little pie chart. And I want you in that pie
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chart to divide it, to divide it into two, the
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ratio of your prayer life that you would say,
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I spend this much time talking, I spend this
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much time listening. I just want you off the
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top of your head, 10 seconds. I want you just
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to, hmm, I spend a quarter of the time listening
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and three quarters of the time talking, whatever
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it is. If you're really honest, maybe you would
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say, I spend 99 .9 % of the time talking. And
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I might listen a little bit, but the truth is
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that when I'm listening for God, it's, oh, I
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want an elder to pray over me and give me a prophetic
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word. You know what I'm saying? I'm not talking
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about that kind of a voice. I'm talking about
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you, your spirit knowing, Abba, Father. Your
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spirit knowing the voice. of your father. You
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don't need any other man to speak for him, you
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knowing the voice of God. And so how, that sounds
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so good, but how do I practically do this? I
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feel a little passionate about this because we
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live in a world that is pushing in on you. We
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live in a world where you are constantly hearing
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the world. You have it on your phone. You have
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it on your TV. You have it on your devices. It's
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unending noise of this world pushing in on you.
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And so there is in us, what word did we hear?
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Cultivate. It is in us to develop space. to hear
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the voice of our God. It is in us to say, I'm
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making room to hear from you. This is why we
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talk about families making room around a dinner
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table. Why? So they could actually, in the busyness
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of life, hear one another talk to each other.
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What do we do as families in that moment? We're
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making space for one another. And so today when
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we are talking about how can I cultivate a space
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in my life, in my prayer life, to hear from God,
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it's really not that hard. We do it by giving
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ourself to the Word of God, your Bible. We do
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it through stillness. This is hard. This is hard
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for a lot of people to be still, to stop being
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busy, to stop, oh, I'm so busy, I'm so busy,
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I'm so busy. That is the world's voice speaking,
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that this is the expectation of successful people
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to be busy. When the word says to be still, and
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what? No, I'm God. Be still. How do I be still?
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When do I stop? Even in my prayer time, I'm not
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being still. I'm asking, I'm asking, I'm asking.
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And God is just saying, would you just be still
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for a minute? Just stop for a minute. Quiet.
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Many of us don't like to be quiet. To turn off
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the noise. To turn off our phones. You can turn
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off your notifications. I don't tell that to
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Darren. I tell Darren to turn on his notifications.
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But most of us are so attached. We're at the
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beck and call of every outside voice that we
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cannot stop and be quiet. Even in our prayer
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time, I've got to play worship music. I love
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worship music as much as the next person, but
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there is a place in my prayer life where it has
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to be silent. I don't need another worship leader
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worshiping for me. Do you know, I'm not a worship
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leader. I'm not gifted musically. But when I'm
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walking and I don't have any other noise going,
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do you know what often starts coming out of me?
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Songs. Songs, I'm like, wow, this could be kind
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of a good worship song. I'm not gifted in music.
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The worship team would probably laugh at me.
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But if I have worship music playing, is that
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going to happen? No. But in that moment of quietness,
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There arises out of me a song that nobody else
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on earth is singing to the Lord. It is my own.
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It doesn't belong to anybody else. This is my
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worship and my worship alone. But if there's
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noise, if there's not quietness, that can't happen.
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And so it's not difficult. but it does require
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us pushing back. It does. I love Peter Drucker
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is a leadership guru, and I love it. He maybe
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oversimplifies it, but he says this, listening,
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which is the first competence of leadership,
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is not a skill. It is a discipline. All you have
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to do is keep your mouth shut. It's very simple.
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Sometimes we just need to keep our mouths shut
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so that God can open his and begin to release
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words to you and begin to release his instructions
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to you. All we have to do is keep our mouths
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shut. I think it's interesting in the book of
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Job because if you read through the book, We
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were in chapter 22 when we read our text. And
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all through the middle of Job, he has his friends
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talking, right? His friends have input. They're
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all going back and forth trying to figure out
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why Job has everything going wrong in his life.
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And finally, finally, we get to chapter 40. Because
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in like 38, I think 38, finally God steps up
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and starts to speak. And when God starts to speak
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in the book of Job, I mean, what else is man
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going to say? And Job finally gets this as well.
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And he says in verse 3 of chapter 40, Job answered
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the Lord, I am unworthy. How can I reply to you?
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I put my hand over my mouth. Maybe that's just
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what we need to do sometimes, put our hand over
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our mouth. He said, I spoke once, but I have
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no answer twice, but now I will say no more.
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And then over in chapter 42, God says, you said,
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listen now, and I will speak, I will question
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you, and you shall answer me. And then Job says,
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ears have heard of you, but now my eyes have
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seen you. When did Job receive the revelation
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of God? When he finally closed his mouth and
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just listened. Suddenly he had a revelation.
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I had heard of you, God, now I see you. There's
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something that happens when we hear the voice
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of God that cannot happen outside of his voice.
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His voice is creative. His voice is life -giving.
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Faith comes by hearing his voice. And until we
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hear it, it's secondhand. Well, I know he's spoken
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to Candace. I've heard what he's told Candace.
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I've heard what he's told Linda. But then you
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hear God for yourself, and suddenly I have heard
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of this God. Now I have seen God. Why? Because
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you've heard the voice of God. We've got to stop
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talking and listen. Just stop talking for a while
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because the truth is he knows what you're going
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through. He knows your situation. He knows details
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you don't know about your situation. And so we
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don't need to inform him, so maybe we should
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just stop for a while and listen to what he has
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to say. That's hard. It's hard. But it's easier
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when you hear the voice. The hard gives way then
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for the easy. And so we want to hear God. And
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then the second part of that passage, it said
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receive the instruction. So we've got to listen
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for the instruction, right, from his mouth. And
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then it says, and place his sayings in your heart.
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You then are responsible for the instruction
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that was given, right? And so I think of this
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when, okay, we've moved now into the middle of
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January. I don't know about you other gardeners,
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but I've gotten my seed catalog. I've ordered
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a second seed catalog. Although I'm determined
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to just go through all the current seeds because
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I have enough seeds that could feed the whole
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church all summer probably. But, you know, I
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can't help it. I get lured in by all these seeds.
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And so those days a couple of weeks ago when
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it was like spring, right, I was like, I know
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my goal was to organize inside, but I got to
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get out there. I got to get in the garden. I
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still have a chance to plant garlic. I thought
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I had missed my window, but I can plant garlic.
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I can't even tell you the weeds that had become
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trees in my garden. Listen, I could not, as much
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as I loved the garlic seed and when it planted,
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I couldn't just go out and put it in the garden.
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I had to violently remove with a shovel, a literal
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shovel, tree weeds. What was I doing? I was making
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space for the garden to receive the seed. This
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is the pushback that I'm talking about. There
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are sometimes things in our life that we need
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to get rid of if we're going to make room to
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hear his voice and receive his instruction. And
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I was thinking about this this week because I
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had a customer come through my shop, and she
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came through super early one morning. And I said,
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oh, you're here really early today. She said,
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yeah, band. an eighth grader and a freshman in
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band, and they have to be at school at 6 .50
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every morning. David, you're sitting there smiling
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like you know what we're talking about here.
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And I start thinking about this, and I think
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about sports, because sports is no different,
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right? Kids are out there practicing a lot of
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times hours that you're all still in bed. And
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what are they doing when they're out there practicing
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band, practicing their football or basketball?
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They are being coached. And so there's this voice
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that they have attuned themselves to who is the
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coach or the director. And so I thought yesterday,
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the world has no problem. Calling for sacrifice.
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Sports has no problem calling for your kids'
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time and your money. Band, same way. No problem
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asking for their time. You don't need to sleep,
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growing kids. Yes, parents, $90 today. There's
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no problem that they have in asking for that.
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And what are they doing? They are forcing the
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kids to make space to hear from their coaches
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and directors. There is something in us that
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needs that kind of tenacity. If the world has
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no problem asking for us to make space for them,
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why do we have problems calling for us to make
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space to hear the voice of our God? There's that
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kind of ruthlessness that says, you know what,
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that's all so temporal, and there's a place for
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it, and I get it, but it is not the most important
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thing, right? So we unapologetically, I even
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today unapologetically call for you to make space
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to put yourself under the voice of your coach,
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the voice of your director, and hear what he
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has to say about your life. Make the space. And
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so in Deuteronomy chapter 30, verse 11, we're
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going to spend just a couple of moments in these.
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passages that are going to move us to the New
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Testament. But it says, now what I am commanding
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you today is not too difficult for you or beyond
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your reach. It is not up in heaven so that you
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have to ask who will ascend into heaven to get
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it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it. Nor
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is it beyond the sea so that you have to ask
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who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim
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it to us so we may obey it. No, the word is very
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near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart
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so you may obey it. I have this verse written
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in my kitchen. See, I set before you today life
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and prosperity, death and destruction. For I
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command you today to love the Lord your God,
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to walk in obedience to him, and keep his commands,
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decrees, and laws, that you will live and increase,
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and the Lord your God will bless you in the land
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you are entering to possess. This is an amazing
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verse because the context of it is the law. right?
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And we know that what the law does, it shows
32:35
us how much we cannot obey it, how much we cannot
32:39
keep it. But yet, in a way, this verse is foreshadowing
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the new covenant. It is saying the reality is
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God is wanting his word to be near to you. He's
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wanting it in your mouth. He's wanting it in
32:55
your heart so that you can obey it. In fact,
33:00
If we go to Romans 10, we see him quoting it
33:04
in this passage. So he's going back and saying,
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okay, here's what it said back in Deuteronomy.
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Now here's the fulfillment of what he wrote about
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in Deuteronomy. And so in Romans 10, 4, he's
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talking about Christ being the culmination of
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the fulfillment of the law. And he says, so that
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there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
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Moses writes this about the righteousness that
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is by the law. The person who does these things
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will live by them. But the righteous that is
33:44
by faith says, do not say in your heart who will
33:47
ascend to heaven, that is who is to bring Christ
33:51
down, or who will ascend into the deep, that
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is to bring Christ up from the dead, but what
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does it say? The word is near you, is in your
34:01
mouth and in your heart, that is the message
34:05
concerning faith that we proclaim is this, if
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you declare Right? If you declare with your mouth,
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Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that
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God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
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Okay, so he's saying, what are they saying? Listen,
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this is not beyond us. The ways of the Lord,
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the word of the Lord is not so far off that we
34:34
have to go up into heaven to find it or down
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into the deep to find it. No. It is near to you.
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It is in your mouth, and it is in your heart.
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And so this is why we declare with our mouth,
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Jesus is Lord, and it's also in our heart. So
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we what? We believe in our heart that Jesus is
34:59
Lord. This is so powerful because the truth is
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that it says, It is with your heart that you
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believe and are justified, and your mouth that
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you profess your faith and are saved. So we see
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the connection. Deuteronomy is the context of
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following the law, which is impossible, but the
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foreshadow of what is to come. Emmanuel, God
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is with us. John chapter 1, Jesus became the
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Word, and the Word dwells among men. The Word
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has drawn near to you and I. It is in our mouth.
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It is in our heart. Jesus, the living Word, is
35:53
near to us. This is not a God that's trying to
35:58
make it difficult for us to obey and follow him.
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He's tried to make it as easy as he can to obey.
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And so now Jesus said this. In Luke, he said,
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when he was talking to the Pharisees, who like
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to overcomplicate it and make it hard, the Pharisees
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asked when the kingdom of God would come. And
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Jesus said it doesn't come with observation.
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They won't say see here or see there. It's not
36:36
a kingdom on this earth. For indeed the kingdom
36:40
is within you. The kingdom is within you. His
36:50
word is in our mouth and it's in our heart. It
36:55
is in us. And the heart of God is always, you
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can read it in Isaiah 59. He says, I'm going
37:04
to put it in your mouth, my words in your mouth,
37:07
on your lips, on the lips of your children and
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their descendants. In Jeremiah, he says, I put
37:14
the law in their minds and on their hearts, and
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they will be my people and I their God. This
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is a God that has always longed to be in close,
37:25
abiding relationship. He has words that he wants
37:30
to speak to us, but we have to begin to listen.
37:35
We have to change the dynamic of our prayer life,
37:39
and maybe what would it look like if we spent
37:41
a little more time listening? And so the question
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today is, what fills our heart? And what fills
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our mouth. Because maybe we need to make some
37:54
space for God. Maybe we've got some attitudes
37:59
that we need to deal with. Maybe we're so busy
38:03
listening to the world that we have no space
38:06
to listen to God. Receive instruction from his
38:12
mouth and then place his sayings in your heart.
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Place his sayings in your heart. I'm going to
38:23
ask if the team will come back up this morning.
38:28
God will answer your prayers. God will do extraordinary
38:32
things. How many of you have had God touch you
38:35
in a miraculous way, right? In one of those only
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God can do moments that I love for, I believe
38:45
for, I pray for, I expect. But that's only one
38:52
aspect of our God. Our God wants to live and
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to dwell with us. I believe that he wants us
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to draw our ears close, anticipating his direction.
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God, what do you have today? God, what do you
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want to do this week? I was listening to a podcast
39:21
this morning and this quote that said, Jesus
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is in our hearts, but grandpa is still in my
39:30
bones. Jesus is in our hearts, but grandpa is
39:37
still in our bones. We've been justified and
39:43
redeemed, right? But sometimes we've still got
39:49
a bit of that generational stuff in us, right?
39:52
Sometimes there are generational curses that
39:55
Jesus has to break. And sometimes we've not had
39:58
an example in our family line of a good father,
40:01
of a good mother. We've not learned how to be
40:06
good parents. We've still got grandpa's stuff
40:10
going on in our bones. And I believe that God,
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his desire is for us to choose to lean in and
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to hear from him on how to be a better parent,
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how to be a better husband, how to be a better
40:33
wife, how to be a better son and a daughter,
40:36
how to be a better friend, how to be a better
40:40
worker, how to be a better steward. That isn't
40:45
always a supernatural changed in the moment kind
40:48
of a thing. That's the discipleship of being
40:53
a follower of Jesus. And when I come across great
41:00
people that I think are doing great things, and
41:05
I want to learn from them, when I get around
41:09
them, I don't spend all my time talking, do I?
41:12
I listen. I need to hear how you've done life.
41:16
I need to hear how you've walked with God. What
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would that look like if we do that to God himself?
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God, you created all this. You knit me together.
41:30
You have a plan and a purpose for my life. I
41:33
want to hear what you have to say about it. I
41:37
want to hear what you have to say about this
41:39
situation. My kid. This problem in my family,
41:45
my business, my finances, my health. God, I want
41:53
to hear what you have to say about it. And so
41:56
this week, your assignment, you ready? You have
42:00
an assignment. I want you this week to change
42:05
your pie chart. I want you this week to move
42:10
the needle on your pie chart. And I want you
42:15
to spend more time listening than talking. Just
42:20
for a week, give it a try. Just for a week, trust
42:24
that God knows what you're going through, and
42:28
so you don't have to inform him. And so just
42:31
for this week, just be quiet, put your hand over
42:34
your mouth, and listen. And just see what God
42:39
says. See how he tells you to pray for that situation.
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See what instruction he gives. And so here's
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what we're going to do this morning. It's a quarter
42:52
till, but see, we aren't governed by this world,
42:55
right? And so you can prolong your lunch a little
42:59
bit. And the team's going to lead us in a moment
43:02
of worship. And I want you to just create an
43:06
altar space. Maybe in your seat, maybe you need
43:10
to come forward to the altar. And I want you
43:15
to spend a few moments making space. I want you
43:19
to spend a few moments just saying, God, I've
43:21
had this attitude. God, I've been doing this
43:24
behavior that's not been good. But what we want
43:27
to do in these final moments is we want to create
43:30
space so that this week we can spend our time
43:34
listening. So that this week we can just give
43:37
ourselves to abiding with the Father and saying,
43:40
God, I've been speaking to you for 20 years.
43:42
I'm just going to listen now to what you have
43:45
to say. But first, we're going to deal with anything
43:50
that might be clogging up that inward life. You
43:54
might need to put some worship music away this
43:57
week and say, yeah, I love Brandon Lake, whoever
44:07
your favorite is. I love Stephanie Gretzinger,
44:11
if you want a good cry. But I'm going to even
44:16
silence that this week. And so I want you in
44:20
this moment just to ask Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit,
44:23
how do I make space this week to hear you? What
44:31
do you want to put your finger on that's been
44:33
occupying space that belongs to you, that belongs
44:38
to your instruction? that belongs to your sayings.
44:42
I want to just clear out closet space to make
44:45
room for your voice, to make room for your direction
44:49
this week, to say, God, I just don't know, so
44:52
I'm just going to listen. I'm just going to hear
44:54
what you might want to say to me this week. And
44:59
so let's just begin to turn our eyes, just kind
45:03
of forget right now about everything that you're
45:05
going home to today. Begin to put your gaze on
45:09
Jesus, the living word, Emmanuel, God with us.
45:15
I want you just to put your eyes on him right
45:17
now. And I want you just to open up your spirit,
45:21
open up your heart, open up your life, and say,
45:25
Holy Spirit, come in and begin to speak. Come
45:29
in and begin to speak. Come in and begin to speak.
45:33
And some of you, I feel like you do, you need
45:36
to make a move to the altar to present it before
45:38
the Lord, to release it before the Lord, a physical
45:42
act of releasing it before the Lord as we worship.
45:46
Just for a few moments, we're going to worship
45:48
and give space for him to come in and begin to
45:52
speak.