Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 561 | Requirements for a fruitful prayer life, Part 1

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561 | Requirements for a fruitful prayer life, Part 1 · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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  She's a happy girl. Hello, friends, and welcome back to another podcast of Woman.
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  At the Well Ministries, where we believe that all of us have to come to Jesus
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  like the woman at the well in John chapter 4.
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  Our highest priority is making God real in your life.
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  Whether you are listening in our app, in your favorite podcasting app,
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  or on our website at watwm.org,
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  we invite you to sit down with us as we look to the scriptures to learn more
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  about God and to strengthen your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
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  Are you having problems with your prayer life? Join us in this broadcast of
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  Woman at the Well Ministries, as Kim takes a look at Samuel's words to the house
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  of Israel concerning what is required of them in order for God to answer their prayer.
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  God never changes, and he promised in Jeremiah 33.3 that if we call unto him, he will answer us.
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  So if you're not getting answers to your prayers, then the problem lies within you.
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  In one simple verse, Samuel gives us the recipe for a powerful and successful prayer life.
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  Follow these instructions and have your prayers answered.
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  Hello, and welcome to this broadcast of Woman at the Well Ministries.
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  What a pleasure it is that you have chosen to spend these next few moments with us.
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  We're going to be in 1 Samuel 7, beginning in verse 3.
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  We're going to talk about something that most Christians don't want to talk about.
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  And most of us don't want to admit that we have problems in our prayer life.
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  But if we're honest with ourselves and with each other, each of us in our lifetimes
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  come through what my pastor calls seasons, but comes through times in their
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  life when there is problems in their prayer life.
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  But the Lord says, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive
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  us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness in 1 John 1.9.
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  Now, it's not to be confused that if you're not getting the answers you want.
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  They have problems in your prayer life because God knows what's best.
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  And he says that all things work together for the good to them that love the
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  Lord, that are called according to his purpose in Romans 8, 28.
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  We're not talking about that.
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  We're talking about not being able to hear from God, coming to him in prayer
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  and not knowing that he has heard you.
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  When that takes place, it isn't that God has turned a deaf ear because he's
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  no longer interested in you.
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  It isn't because God is busy doing something else.
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  It isn't because God hasn't heard you because he's got other things on his mind
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  or something else has shouted past you.
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  What it is, is there's something in our lives that needs to be changed.
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  In Psalms chapter 66 and verse 18, the Lord tells us through David.
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  If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.
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  Iniquity means sin. If I harbor unconfessed sin in my heart,
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  God is not going to hear my prayers.
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  So one of the first things we need to realize is that when we've got a prayer
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  problem, we have a spiritual problem.
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  It's a no-brainer that if I can't talk and hear with God, that I'm going to
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  struggle walking with Him.
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  You know how it is with your friends and how it is with the people that you
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  spend your life with. If there's some sort of tension between you,
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  if there's something that doesn't belong between you and that person,
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  it's pretty tense, tenuous walking.
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  The Lord says that he walks with us and that he'll never leave us nor forsake us.
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  But he says, if you have sin in your heart, I'm not going to hear you.
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  Because the Lord cannot look upon sin. And he proved that because as Christ
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  bore the sins of the world, mine and yours upon his shoulders and upon his body,
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  the earth turned pitch black at noonday.
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  Friends, he doesn't make exceptions. for even you.
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  If you have iniquity in your heart, God isn't going to hear you.
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  But as we spoke earlier, if we confess those sins, he's going to forgive us.
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  And sometimes there's things in our life that require us to come to him in amazing prayer.
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  And I say that because it's an issue that's important to us.
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  It's something that really seems like life or death to us.
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  It's something that we really want to make sure we've spoken to God about and when we get there,
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  when we speak to him in the
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  presence of almighty God it's important
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  that we know that he hears us and it's important that we know that he said call
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  unto me and I will answer thee and share the great and mighty things which thou
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  knowest not he said cast all that care upon me for I care for you in 1 Peter chapter 5.
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  Friends, he said, I'll take your burden and make it mine.
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  And my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
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  And he said, be anxious for nothing, but do with everything with prayer and thanksgiving.
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  Let your requests be made known unto God and the peace of God,
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  which passes all understanding.
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  So keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
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  He said, pray without ceasing.
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  You see, God stands at the door and knocks in Revelations 3,
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  verse 18, wanting to spend the day with you, wanting to sup with you,
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  to fellowship with you, to hang out with you.
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  And friends, he's done his part.
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  And he's knocking at your heart for relationship.
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  Relationship he's knocking at your heart so
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  that you guys have a personal relationship that is between you and him you can
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  fully know god by fully knowing jesus and it is personal and it's real he said
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  greater love hath no man than this then a man laid down his life for his friends
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  and jesus laid his life down.
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  But as we come to Jesus with these prayers, because we have faith in him,
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  Bible says that without faith, it is impossible to please him.
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  And in Romans chapter 12, he says that anything without faith is sin.
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  So when we come to him, we must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder
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  of them that diligently seek him.
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  We must know that he hears.
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  And in 1 Samuel chapter 7, beginning at verse 3, we see something that we need to take a lot.
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  Of pride in knowing that God loved us so much to tell us this.
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  But we must pay very close attention to what Samuel says to the house of Israel.
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  He says this, If you do return unto the Lord with all your hearts,
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  then put away the strange gods and Ashtoreth from among you,
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  and prepare your hearts unto the Lord,
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  and serve him only, and he
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  will deliver you out of the hands of the
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  philistines now here's the instructions that samuel says he says first of all
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  you go back to the lord david says come back to your first love but return unto
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  the lord with all your heart.
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  That doesn't mean that he's way down on the totem pole, that he's down the list
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  of priorities, that he's a name you say in passing, that he's something you
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  say, oh, yeah, I know Jesus.
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  But that he doesn't have any influence on your day-to-day life or any impact
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  on the things that you do, the places that you go.
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  You see people who are in your heart whom you love with all your heart Whether
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  they're in your presence or not.
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  They impact your life all the time You make plans around what's best for them
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  You make plans making sure you can meet with them You make plans to do things to help them.
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  You make plans to be around them Because
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  they're important to you And they have
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  meaning and impact to you and you
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  miss them when they're not around so he
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  says to return to god with all
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  your heart put him in the rightful place he belongs which
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  is on the throne of your heart king of
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  your life you're all in all everything
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  to you everything else takes a
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  back seat to your love for jesus and
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  your confidence in him this is
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  what samuel says and then he says
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  put away the strange gods and ashtoreth
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  and ashtoreth was was a god that goddess of
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  fertility and she went along with baal and what he's saying is put away all
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  that strange stuff get rid of the little things in your life that you're serving
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  whether it's your job and i understand you have to have that.
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  But it does not have to be king of your heart and lord of your life.
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  It does not have to be the person or the thing that you bow down to.
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  You don't have to serve your work. Your work needs to serve your needs.
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  And you need to place it behind Jesus Christ who allowed you to have it.
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  Realize that the means that your work gives you is the gift that God allows
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  you to have. as he provides for you your daily needs and for many of us,
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  lots of our desires and wants.
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  But put away the strange gods. Maybe it's athletics.
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  Maybe it's your wife. Maybe it's your children.
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  Maybe it's fishing. Maybe it's your friends. Maybe it's your education.
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  I don't have to tell you what it is. You know what's taking up all your time.
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  You know what you think of first thing in the morning when you wake up.
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  You know what you're scheduling everything around. You know what you are serving.
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  My friend, if it is the almighty dollar, it will surely fail you.
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  And all the little gods will fail you.
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  And Israel had a problem with sort of worshiping false gods and still trying
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  to kind of keep God in the balance.
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  They wouldn't forsake God all along, but they just dabbled in all these other
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  stuff. And some of you are doing the same thing.
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  You see, you're going to church on Sunday, working late on Wednesday, can't go.
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  And you're doing things that seem right, but you're dabbling in the things of the world.
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  You're allowing little gods to show up. Some of you, God forbid.
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  Are opening up the newspaper and looking at the horoscope to see how you're supposed to feel today.
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  Instead of looking at the Bible and said rejoice and be glad in it for this
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  is the day that the Lord hath made you're looking to the things of the world
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  to direct your path and he said,
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  I'll direct your paths I'll be a lamp into your feet and a light into your path I'm it,
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  and I'm all you need I'll be your friend when you're friendless I'll be your
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  money when you're broke.
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  I'll be your food and manna when you're hungry. I'll be a living water when
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  you're thirsty because God said I am the I am and I'm all you need.
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  But some of you are hanging out with the little G.O.D.s and trying to balance
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  them with the big great God and they don't compare and they don't fit.
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  But for some reason you won't give them up.
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  But your prayer life's suffering because he says he's not going to do anything.
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  He's not going to hear you if you have sin in your life.
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  And yes, anything you put before God is sin. And anytime you're doubting God
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  or placing your faith in something besides God, that's sin.
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  And so he's telling the house of Israel, come on, put God as the first thing in your life.
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  Come back to that first love, fall in love with him. Put him where he belongs and put away.
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  The gods. He doesn't say, ignore them.
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  He doesn't say, don't have anything to do with it. He's just put them away.
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  You see, you know what a lot of us do?
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  We know things are wrong, but we keep them around us.
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  Or we know that drinking is a sin, but we eat in bars with our friends who are drinking.
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  And somehow we think that that's not going to tempt us or cause us a problem.
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  Alcohol isn't one of my temptations, but it'll sure ruin my witness if I'm around all that.
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  And we might have a problem with money.
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  So we surround ourselves with material things.
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  He said, put away the gods, get rid of them.
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  Perhaps you have a tendency to serve that athletic event.
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  There is nothing wrong with being an athlete, and I have great respect for them
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  and a wonderful love for most all sports.
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  But i for one know that it's a
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  fine line for me between serving what i'm playing
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  and what i'm playing serving me see i know my weakness so i have to be very
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  careful and i need to put away the things i can't handle i don't need to dabble
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  with it and it may be okay for you but it isn't okay for me because it's a little
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  god and i need to get rid of it i can't play with it.
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  The people that are hanging out with deck of cards at your house with your children
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  around. What do you think they see?
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  They see the deck of cards at home.
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  Perhaps you even play with them. And you play all the same kind of stuff that
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  the casinos in Vegas and all these places are playing.
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  And they, TV and magazines and other people are just rip-roaring it and playing
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  it all up as fun and wonderful.
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  And you're saying, oh, no, this is just something we do at home,
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  honey. Don't do this out. Don't gamble.
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  And then you wonder when this kid gets out of your side or grows up,
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  why he has a gambling problem.
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  Because you didn't put the God away.
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  You shoved him in a drawer. And you called him something else.
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  And you dressed him up in a different way. And then you want to know why your
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  prayers are having problems.
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  Because he said, put away the God.
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  Don't dress it up. Don't call it something else. Don't hide it under the bed.
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  Don't put it away for a rainy day. Get rid of it.
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  So some of us right now need to look at our lives and see what gods we need
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  to put away and get them out of our lives completely.
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  Then he said, prepare your hearts unto the Lord.
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  Come to the Lord and make him number one.
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  Put away the little G-O-Ds and prepare your heart.
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  What does he mean when he says prepare your heart?
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  First of all, you have to be washed white as snow.
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  Though your sins were as scarlet, they are white as snow.
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  And as all of our righteousness are as filthy rags. But somewhere,
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  sometime, you need to have met the Savior face to face.
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  Come to him with repentant heart and said, I am a sinner, sinner in need of a savior.
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  Wash me white as snow by your cleansing blood that is sinless and spotless.
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  I claim the blood of the spotless Lamb of God that I might have my sins washed white as snow.
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  That's the first step to preparing your heart. Then there's the part of.
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  Just looking at God at who he is. You're there in front of him.
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  And you allow your heart to see
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  him in all of his glory, in all of his splendor, in all of his greatness.
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  And you begin to realize that you have a personal relationship with this great
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  God and that he knows you by name and that he died for your sins and that he
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  called you and he has prepared you and he has plans for you and he's building
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  you a home not made with hands, eternal into the heavens.
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  And this God is speaking to you right now.
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  And we need to get the sins out of our heart, as he told us in Psalm 66, 18.
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  And we need to begin to confess him, as we're told to in 1 John,
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  and begin to lay before him the malice and the hatred.
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  The unbelief, the doubt, the anxiousness, the worry and the fretting.
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  The schedules that have scheduled him right out of our lives.
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  The priorities that have gotten all jumbled up.
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  And we need to come to him with an open heart that says, Cleanse me,
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  O God, and know me, I pray.
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  And see if there be any wicked way in me. And we need to come to him with a
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  heart that is empty of us, desiring to be filled with him.
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  Samuel tells the house of Israel, if you'll do that, and you'll serve him only.
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  Do you see how we keep going back to all these things so interrelated and interlocked?
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  If I've fallen in love with him, I'm going to put away the things that he doesn't want me to have.
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  Because he said, if you'll love me, you'll keep my commandments.
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  And they're not grievous. And he said, thou shalt have no other gods before
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  me. And as I prepare my heart, I'll see to it that I confess the sins,
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  that he can cleanse me and make me white as snow.
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  And I'll begin to remove everything from my life and to where I am just a servant of the Most High God.
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  And I mean just as if there's nothing else I'm serving, not because it's a small,
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  trivial thing, but you have the opportunity to be in the Lord's army.
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  You have the opportunity to be the chosen individual that he has chosen to show someone else him.
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  He could have lived anywhere in the world, anywhere in the entire galaxy,
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  on anything, in any planet, in any beautiful creation, and man is not the most
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  beautiful of all his creations.
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  But he chose to live in your heart and mine. And he said, If you...
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  Will do these things, then I will deliver you.
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  And we spent the first part of this beautiful passage in 1 Samuel,
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  chapter 7, beginning in verse 3, concluding in verse 13 is where we want to go.
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  Preparing ourselves to understand what it takes for God to bless us with the answer to our prayers.
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  And in the next lesson we're gonna see what that does to us as we do that process,
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  what the rewards of that process are and how god honors his word and he said
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  if you call unto me i will answer thee he said if you'll ask anything in my
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  name i'll give it and in my name means in his will,
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  and therefore we must be righteous in Jesus Christ.
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  Oh, my friends, what a wonderful resource we have.
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  How special it is to be invited to come to the Lord of the universe and to speak
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  to him and to tell him the things that are on our heart and on our mind,
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  knowing that he hears and knowing
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  that he has promised to take care of us and that he has the answer.
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  And if we're who we're supposed to be in Christ, the answer is on the way. Friends, please.
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  This time, at this moment, open up your heart and let the Lord come in.
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  Be very sure that you know Him as personal Savior.
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  Confess your sins and believe in Him, and He will surely save you and deliver you. Thank you.
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  Thank you for joining us in today's podcast. You can visit the show notes for
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  quotes from today's podcast and scripture references.
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  We pray today has been a blessing and we encourage you to reach out to us through
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• 22:27
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  Thank you to the Gospel Group Fudge Creek for letting us use their hit song, Happy Girl.
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  Remember that God loves you. You are loved.