WEBVTT 00:00:05.929 --> 00:00:11.990 1 Kings chapter 19, we're going to start in verse 00:00:11.990 --> 00:00:22.010 9 this morning. I preach from 1 Kings 18 and 00:00:22.010 --> 00:00:25.589 19 a lot. If you guys make notes in your Bible 00:00:25.589 --> 00:00:29.050 of what date I preach a sermon on, you've probably 00:00:29.050 --> 00:00:31.589 got a lot of dots by this particular passage. 00:00:32.940 --> 00:00:35.460 It's a passage that I have to turn to a lot. 00:00:35.960 --> 00:00:38.439 And maybe that's an indictment on me. Maybe that 00:00:38.439 --> 00:00:42.020 just speaks to my weakness. But nevertheless, 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:45.719 I find myself having to turn to this a lot. And 00:00:45.719 --> 00:00:48.759 maybe it's good for you too. I don't know. Maybe 00:00:48.759 --> 00:00:51.859 you don't struggle in the same way as I do. But 00:00:51.859 --> 00:00:55.240 it's a good passage. And you've probably heard 00:00:55.240 --> 00:00:59.240 me preach it ten times. And if I'm here for a 00:00:59.240 --> 00:01:00.859 little bit longer, you probably will hear me 00:01:00.859 --> 00:01:06.129 preach it some more. 1 Kings chapter 19, we'll 00:01:06.129 --> 00:01:09.370 start in verse 9, but before we do, let's pray 00:01:09.370 --> 00:01:14.890 and we'll get started. God, we come to you today 00:01:14.890 --> 00:01:17.290 and we still got a little sadness in our hearts, 00:01:17.409 --> 00:01:20.069 but dear Lord, we just thank you for being good 00:01:20.069 --> 00:01:24.269 to us, for blessing us with a good pianist for 00:01:24.269 --> 00:01:26.069 all these years. We thank you for our heart of 00:01:26.069 --> 00:01:28.689 service and dedication, and we just thank you 00:01:28.689 --> 00:01:31.079 that we got to worship today with her. One more 00:01:31.079 --> 00:01:33.540 time, and we thank you for these words. I pray 00:01:33.540 --> 00:01:36.500 that you just free us of all the distractions 00:01:36.500 --> 00:01:40.000 and the worries and the stresses and the pains 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:43.200 of this world, and that in these moments, dear 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:46.120 Lord, that you just would help the world to become 00:01:46.120 --> 00:01:50.019 silent to us, that we would be able to listen 00:01:50.019 --> 00:01:52.500 to you and to hear from you, dear Lord, that, 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:56.980 God, there's a lot of noise in our life, but 00:01:56.980 --> 00:01:59.200 I pray that in the midst of the noise that we 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:03.189 do not, miss you, dear Lord, that in the many 00:02:03.189 --> 00:02:05.810 mighty and powerful ways in which we see you 00:02:05.810 --> 00:02:09.530 work, that we don't forget to stop and listen 00:02:09.530 --> 00:02:11.909 to you, dear Lord. So I pray, God, that your 00:02:11.909 --> 00:02:13.870 Holy Spirit would be with us today, that you 00:02:13.870 --> 00:02:15.430 would help me to preach and teach in a way that 00:02:15.430 --> 00:02:18.469 brings glory and honor to you. And I ask these 00:02:18.469 --> 00:02:23.210 things in Jesus' name. Amen. I'll give you a 00:02:23.210 --> 00:02:25.490 little backdrop of what's kind of leading up 00:02:25.490 --> 00:02:31.259 to this story. Good story. I would encourage 00:02:31.259 --> 00:02:33.560 you to read it if you've never read this story 00:02:33.560 --> 00:02:37.400 of Elijah. He's going up against all these false 00:02:37.400 --> 00:02:41.780 prophets of Baal. There's 450 of them, and they're 00:02:41.780 --> 00:02:46.139 worshiping this false god. And Elijah, the prophet 00:02:46.139 --> 00:02:50.180 of God, challenges them and says, Look, one of 00:02:50.180 --> 00:02:52.620 our gods is the real God, and we've got to figure 00:02:52.620 --> 00:02:55.939 out who this is. And so he challenges them both 00:02:55.939 --> 00:03:00.159 to make an altar. to put a sacrifice on that 00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:03.259 altar, and they're both to pray to their God 00:03:03.259 --> 00:03:06.400 and see which God responds. Now, the prophets 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:08.840 of Baal, they hoot and holler and dance around 00:03:08.840 --> 00:03:12.520 and all kind of stuff, and nothing happens. Of 00:03:12.520 --> 00:03:14.819 course, their God's not a real God, and so there's 00:03:14.819 --> 00:03:19.000 no surprise that there's no response there. Elijah 00:03:19.000 --> 00:03:22.300 is not surprised by that, and he kind of pokes 00:03:22.300 --> 00:03:24.159 at him and prods at him and says, oh, you know, 00:03:24.219 --> 00:03:26.659 maybe you need to holler out a little louder. 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:30.719 Maybe your God's asleep. the god of these false 00:03:30.719 --> 00:03:33.319 prophets doesn't answer and of course elijah 00:03:33.319 --> 00:03:36.699 calls on the lord the only god and and his altar 00:03:36.699 --> 00:03:40.699 is lit up with flames and and uh it's a miraculous 00:03:40.699 --> 00:03:44.319 thing and the false prophets are killed and elijah 00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:47.900 just saw this awesome and and mighty thing that 00:03:47.900 --> 00:03:50.719 the lord had done but but right after that we 00:03:50.719 --> 00:03:53.979 flip the page and we see that elijah is running 00:03:53.979 --> 00:03:57.199 for his life because King Ahab and Queen Jezebel 00:03:57.199 --> 00:04:01.120 have sent word that they want Elijah to die. 00:04:01.319 --> 00:04:04.419 They want him dead. Now Elijah is a mighty prophet 00:04:04.419 --> 00:04:07.560 of God. We see Elijah mentioned in the New Testament. 00:04:07.620 --> 00:04:10.139 We see that he's pretty important. He's pretty 00:04:10.139 --> 00:04:14.979 prominent. And Elijah had just experienced this 00:04:14.979 --> 00:04:18.600 great work of God. He was a man of God. And now 00:04:18.600 --> 00:04:22.079 things have gotten really tough. And so he goes 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:25.379 on the run. He flees for his life. He runs into 00:04:25.379 --> 00:04:29.019 the wilderness, and he sits under a tree, and 00:04:29.019 --> 00:04:32.899 he says, God, take my life. He says, God, I'm 00:04:32.899 --> 00:04:36.139 ready to just give up. I'm ready to die. I'm 00:04:36.139 --> 00:04:39.480 ready to be done. It's too hard. I'm just tired 00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:42.620 of it. And maybe some of us can relate to that 00:04:42.620 --> 00:04:47.500 feeling. Elijah felt alone. He felt afraid. We 00:04:47.500 --> 00:04:50.519 see both of those words applied to Elijah throughout 00:04:50.519 --> 00:04:53.509 this passage, throughout this story. And even 00:04:53.509 --> 00:04:55.509 though he'd experienced the greatness of God 00:04:55.509 --> 00:05:00.649 in a mighty way, in a super powerful way, even 00:05:00.649 --> 00:05:03.370 Elijah, the great prophet of God, found himself 00:05:03.370 --> 00:05:07.410 ready to give up, ready to leave this world. 00:05:07.529 --> 00:05:11.990 And God didn't grant his request. And maybe if 00:05:11.990 --> 00:05:14.930 we're honest, maybe that's been our request, 00:05:15.009 --> 00:05:18.220 some of us from time to time. Maybe there's been 00:05:18.220 --> 00:05:20.259 things in our life that have been so hard and 00:05:20.259 --> 00:05:23.060 so painful that maybe our request has just been, 00:05:23.300 --> 00:05:26.379 God, I'm ready. Would you just take me, dear 00:05:26.379 --> 00:05:28.259 Lord? I don't want the struggle. I don't want 00:05:28.259 --> 00:05:30.819 the pain. God, I've lived for you and life is 00:05:30.819 --> 00:05:33.000 still hard or this thing I'm going through is 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:37.100 so tough. Lord, would you just take me from this 00:05:37.100 --> 00:05:40.360 world? And people pray that prayer. Maybe some 00:05:40.360 --> 00:05:43.939 of us have prayed that prayer. But God didn't 00:05:43.939 --> 00:05:46.970 grant that request. He wasn't quite through with 00:05:46.970 --> 00:05:50.089 Elijah yet. And instead of taking him out of 00:05:50.089 --> 00:05:54.170 this world, he ministered to Elijah. He sent 00:05:54.170 --> 00:05:57.370 some food and some water to him, and he told 00:05:57.370 --> 00:06:00.110 him to rest up. And that happened a couple of 00:06:00.110 --> 00:06:03.829 times that the Lord provided what Elijah needed. 00:06:04.370 --> 00:06:07.449 It was said to Elijah, you need to eat, you need 00:06:07.449 --> 00:06:10.410 to drink, and you need to be ready for the journey 00:06:10.410 --> 00:06:14.939 that's ahead of you. Elijah went on this pretty 00:06:14.939 --> 00:06:16.980 long journey and he ended up at this mountain 00:06:16.980 --> 00:06:20.100 and he was hanging out in a cave. And that's 00:06:20.100 --> 00:06:23.319 what we see in the passage today. In 1 Kings 00:06:23.319 --> 00:06:28.379 chapter 19, verse 9, it says, He entered a cave 00:06:28.379 --> 00:06:31.779 there and spent the night. Then the word of the 00:06:31.779 --> 00:06:35.540 Lord came to him and he said to him, What are 00:06:35.540 --> 00:06:39.600 you doing here, Elijah? He replied, I've been 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:43.459 very zealous for the Lord God of hosts. But the 00:06:43.459 --> 00:06:46.439 Israelites have abandoned your covenant, torn 00:06:46.439 --> 00:06:49.819 down your altars, and killed your prophets with 00:06:49.819 --> 00:06:54.620 the sword. I alone am left, and they are looking 00:06:54.620 --> 00:07:00.279 to take my life. Then he said, Go out and stand 00:07:00.279 --> 00:07:04.000 on the mountain in the Lord's presence. At that 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:08.259 moment, the Lord passed by. A great and mighty 00:07:08.259 --> 00:07:11.000 wind was tearing at the mountains and was shattering 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:14.639 cliffs before the Lord. But the Lord was not 00:07:14.639 --> 00:07:20.139 in the wind. And after the wind there was an 00:07:20.139 --> 00:07:23.259 earthquake. But the Lord was not in the earthquake. 00:07:24.459 --> 00:07:27.939 After the earthquake there was a fire. But the 00:07:27.939 --> 00:07:32.220 Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire 00:07:32.220 --> 00:07:38.579 there was a voice. A soft. Some of your translations 00:07:38.579 --> 00:07:44.899 there will say a still, small voice. Now Elijah 00:07:44.899 --> 00:07:48.980 knew of the Lord. He had experienced the power 00:07:48.980 --> 00:07:52.759 of the Lord. He was a faithful servant of the 00:07:52.759 --> 00:07:58.480 Lord. But here in his deepest hour of just conflict 00:07:58.480 --> 00:08:02.230 and pain, The Lord speaks to him and says, what 00:08:02.230 --> 00:08:04.389 are you doing here, Elijah? And Elijah says, 00:08:04.529 --> 00:08:07.529 God, I can't do it anymore. I'm alone. I alone 00:08:07.529 --> 00:08:10.350 am left. Your people have turned against you. 00:08:10.449 --> 00:08:14.290 My life is in jeopardy. And then after Elijah 00:08:14.290 --> 00:08:17.930 makes this statement, we see God express himself 00:08:17.930 --> 00:08:22.649 in some powerful ways, in a powerful wind that 00:08:22.649 --> 00:08:26.639 rocks the cliffs. And an earthquake that shakes 00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:29.439 everything. And a fire in whatever form that 00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:31.319 took and what it looked like. I don't know what 00:08:31.319 --> 00:08:34.440 that would have looked like. But we see God in 00:08:34.440 --> 00:08:37.120 all of these mighty ways working. And we see 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:39.460 that all throughout the Old Testament. We see 00:08:39.460 --> 00:08:42.600 God do some pretty dramatic things. I mean, the 00:08:42.600 --> 00:08:46.100 parting of the Red Sea and just ground opening 00:08:46.100 --> 00:08:48.799 up and swallowing people who had been disobedient 00:08:48.799 --> 00:08:53.210 to the Lord. we see some pretty incredible, powerful 00:08:53.210 --> 00:08:57.110 ways in which God shows his awesomeness throughout 00:08:57.110 --> 00:09:00.350 the scripture. And I believe God still acts in 00:09:00.350 --> 00:09:02.870 those ways today. I believe God is still just 00:09:02.870 --> 00:09:05.470 as powerful today. I believe that we see the 00:09:05.470 --> 00:09:09.149 power and the awe of God today in our world. 00:09:09.590 --> 00:09:13.029 And sometimes through events that we encounter 00:09:13.029 --> 00:09:17.419 are really, really... hard things in our life 00:09:17.419 --> 00:09:20.500 that shake us up. I think still today the Lord, 00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:23.379 He makes a little racket sometimes in our life. 00:09:23.460 --> 00:09:26.460 He does things to show us His power and to shake 00:09:26.460 --> 00:09:29.860 us up and to grab our attention so that we see 00:09:29.860 --> 00:09:32.740 that God is still there. He's still in control. 00:09:32.899 --> 00:09:35.059 He's still paying attention. And sometimes He's 00:09:35.059 --> 00:09:37.779 maybe not happy with us. And I think we still 00:09:37.779 --> 00:09:42.600 see the power of God today. But what's beautiful 00:09:42.600 --> 00:09:45.870 about this passage is that Even though we see 00:09:45.870 --> 00:09:49.669 the power of God here before Elijah, how does 00:09:49.669 --> 00:09:54.029 it say that the Lord spoke to Elijah? In a still, 00:09:54.049 --> 00:10:02.289 small voice. In a soft whisper. Have you ever 00:10:02.289 --> 00:10:04.610 talked in a conversation with somebody that doesn't 00:10:04.610 --> 00:10:08.409 talk very loud? It's hard to hear them. When 00:10:08.409 --> 00:10:11.649 somebody's speaking lowly, to be able to hear 00:10:11.649 --> 00:10:15.509 them, you really have to Listen intently. Maybe 00:10:15.509 --> 00:10:17.330 that's part of the reason why the Lord spoke 00:10:17.330 --> 00:10:20.870 to Elijah in this way. I don't know. He could 00:10:20.870 --> 00:10:24.429 have done something dramatic before Elijah and 00:10:24.429 --> 00:10:27.090 spoken a loud and booming voice as sometimes 00:10:27.090 --> 00:10:30.970 he does in the Old Testament. But maybe he spoke 00:10:30.970 --> 00:10:35.789 in a still, small voice so that Elijah would 00:10:35.789 --> 00:10:39.289 really pay attention and listen to what the Lord 00:10:39.289 --> 00:10:46.509 had to say. What about you and I? Do we listen 00:10:46.509 --> 00:10:51.750 to what the Lord has to say to us? You know, 00:10:51.769 --> 00:10:53.330 if you take the same letters that are in the 00:10:53.330 --> 00:10:55.470 word listen and you scramble them all around, 00:10:55.570 --> 00:11:00.009 they also spell the word silent. And sometimes 00:11:00.009 --> 00:11:04.110 to be able to hear the Lord speak, we need to 00:11:04.110 --> 00:11:06.889 sit in the silence. That's hard for us to do 00:11:06.889 --> 00:11:10.230 in this day and age. Man, it's hard to sit in 00:11:10.230 --> 00:11:15.590 silence. We have such a short attention span. 00:11:16.610 --> 00:11:19.309 We've always got music playing or earbuds in 00:11:19.309 --> 00:11:21.490 our ear or a phone in our pocket that's vibrating 00:11:21.490 --> 00:11:25.730 or ringing. And there's a lot of noise in our 00:11:25.730 --> 00:11:29.370 world today. There's Wi -Fi airwaves going through 00:11:29.370 --> 00:11:31.990 the air and phone airwaves and satellites all 00:11:31.990 --> 00:11:37.789 around. And it's just noise. And I believe that 00:11:37.789 --> 00:11:40.330 that's a great tactic that the devil uses today. 00:11:41.320 --> 00:11:44.940 To keep us from hearing from God. It's not to 00:11:44.940 --> 00:11:47.620 say that we don't see God work in mighty ways 00:11:47.620 --> 00:11:50.879 some ways. That gets people's attention in this 00:11:50.879 --> 00:11:54.639 world. But maybe today the Lord wants to speak 00:11:54.639 --> 00:11:56.840 to you. Maybe he's been trying to get your attention 00:11:56.840 --> 00:11:59.860 for the last few weeks or few months or few years. 00:12:02.279 --> 00:12:04.980 And maybe today the Lord is speaking to you in 00:12:04.980 --> 00:12:09.679 a still small voice. And the reason you haven't 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:13.220 heard him. It's because you haven't stopped to 00:12:13.220 --> 00:12:18.799 listen. Maybe today you're like Elijah and you're 00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:21.419 on the run. Maybe today you are depressed and 00:12:21.419 --> 00:12:24.519 you are sad and you are afraid and you feel alone 00:12:24.519 --> 00:12:29.100 and you don't know why God doesn't hear you and 00:12:29.100 --> 00:12:32.220 you've called out to him. But I want to tell 00:12:32.220 --> 00:12:37.080 you today, God has heard you. But maybe, just 00:12:37.080 --> 00:12:42.389 maybe, we've been too busy to hear God. Do you 00:12:42.389 --> 00:12:46.049 ever take a moment to just unplug? Do you ever 00:12:46.049 --> 00:12:48.350 take a moment to turn the TV off, to turn the 00:12:48.350 --> 00:12:51.549 radio off? Do you ever take a moment, perhaps 00:12:51.549 --> 00:12:54.710 just to take a walk in nature? What a beautiful 00:12:54.710 --> 00:12:57.950 place to hear from the Lord, to go out and see 00:12:57.950 --> 00:13:00.070 creation, to get away from the hustle and the 00:13:00.070 --> 00:13:02.870 bustle, to take your phone out of your pocket, 00:13:03.009 --> 00:13:07.529 and to just go and just to sit in silence. And 00:13:07.529 --> 00:13:09.389 that is a hard thing to do. You probably have 00:13:09.389 --> 00:13:12.529 to pray about that a lot. Because, man, you go 00:13:12.529 --> 00:13:15.090 and you try to sit in silence, and that lasts 00:13:15.090 --> 00:13:17.090 all of about seven seconds. And then you're thinking 00:13:17.090 --> 00:13:18.809 about, I've got to do this thing at work. I've 00:13:18.809 --> 00:13:20.470 got to do this thing at church. I've got to do 00:13:20.470 --> 00:13:22.429 this thing. I've got this thing going on with 00:13:22.429 --> 00:13:26.529 my family. I feel bad. I mean, I'm hungry. Man, 00:13:26.669 --> 00:13:28.070 I want a snack. I should have ate breakfast this 00:13:28.070 --> 00:13:29.549 morning. I mean, you're going to have a million 00:13:29.549 --> 00:13:33.029 things. The moment you start to sit in silence, 00:13:33.330 --> 00:13:35.509 there are going to be so many things that are 00:13:35.509 --> 00:13:37.350 going to compete for your attention. And you 00:13:37.350 --> 00:13:40.350 may have to pray a lot. You may have to pray 00:13:40.350 --> 00:13:42.870 a lot because even if there's silence around 00:13:42.870 --> 00:13:45.590 you, your mind still is probably full of a lot 00:13:45.590 --> 00:13:49.909 of noise. And so it may just take us taking a 00:13:49.909 --> 00:13:54.850 moment. We may just have to take a moment. And 00:13:54.850 --> 00:13:56.909 you say, you have preached this exact sermon 00:13:56.909 --> 00:14:00.610 five times. I probably have. But I keep going 00:14:00.610 --> 00:14:03.070 back to it because I'm so weak that I have to 00:14:03.070 --> 00:14:06.529 be reminded to take a moment. And I think maybe 00:14:06.529 --> 00:14:08.870 there are some others that do. I don't know. 00:14:09.450 --> 00:14:12.809 I know life is busy. I know for some of you it's 00:14:12.809 --> 00:14:14.830 way busier than it is for me. I know a lot of 00:14:14.830 --> 00:14:17.750 you got a lot on your plate. And it's hard when 00:14:17.750 --> 00:14:20.309 you're raising kids and you got responsibilities 00:14:20.309 --> 00:14:23.330 at work and you got sickness in your family and 00:14:23.330 --> 00:14:28.029 you got life and it's just hard. And sometimes 00:14:28.029 --> 00:14:32.409 we just, I think, need to be like Elijah and 00:14:32.409 --> 00:14:34.950 just call out to the Lord and say, okay, God, 00:14:35.049 --> 00:14:37.129 I don't know if I can keep going any further. 00:14:38.759 --> 00:14:41.899 But it's so beautiful that the Lord does not 00:14:41.899 --> 00:14:44.720 make Elijah go further without taking care of 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:48.620 him. Before even this whole experience, he provides 00:14:48.620 --> 00:14:51.340 what he needs to strengthen him for the journey 00:14:51.340 --> 00:14:55.120 that's ahead of him. I don't know what journey's 00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:57.960 ahead of you. You don't know what journey's ahead 00:14:57.960 --> 00:15:00.139 of you. None of us know what tomorrow holds. 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:06.779 But whatever it is, I can promise you this. You 00:15:06.779 --> 00:15:10.919 can't make the next step in that journey if you 00:15:10.919 --> 00:15:14.159 don't have the power of the Lord. Life is hard. 00:15:14.299 --> 00:15:17.700 It's hard. And it's really hard when you don't 00:15:17.700 --> 00:15:19.620 have God. There's a lot of people that say, oh, 00:15:19.659 --> 00:15:21.519 yeah, but you need God. That's just a crutch. 00:15:21.840 --> 00:15:23.879 Okay, well, maybe He is. What's your crutch? 00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:28.059 We all need hope in something. We all need someone 00:15:28.059 --> 00:15:31.919 to hold us up. God is the one that I choose to 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:34.320 hold me up because God is the only one who can. 00:15:35.179 --> 00:15:38.340 And some of you know that firsthand. Some of 00:15:38.340 --> 00:15:40.480 you say, man, I've tried everything else to lift 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:42.259 me up and to hold me up and to strengthen me, 00:15:42.340 --> 00:15:46.980 and it fails me every time. And some of you still 00:15:46.980 --> 00:15:50.240 need to learn that today, that there is nothing 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:54.779 else that can hold you up. But there is a rock 00:15:54.779 --> 00:15:58.480 that is Jesus Christ that can hold us up, that 00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:01.919 will not crumble if we would just seek him today. 00:16:03.149 --> 00:16:08.309 And so maybe the Lord wants to speak to you today. 00:16:10.009 --> 00:16:12.389 Maybe He wants to speak some grace and some love 00:16:12.389 --> 00:16:16.809 and some peace into your life. Now I'm not saying 00:16:16.809 --> 00:16:18.629 the Lord's going to speak to you in an audible 00:16:18.629 --> 00:16:22.950 voice. He may. I don't know. I know people that 00:16:22.950 --> 00:16:24.809 would say that God has spoken to them and I believe 00:16:24.809 --> 00:16:27.710 them. I've never heard God speak to me in an 00:16:27.710 --> 00:16:31.330 audible voice. But I believe that we can hear 00:16:31.330 --> 00:16:34.909 God speak. And I think we know when the Spirit 00:16:34.909 --> 00:16:39.309 of God is among us. I think we know when God 00:16:39.309 --> 00:16:43.509 is working on us. But sometimes I think we don't 00:16:43.509 --> 00:16:49.169 hear God. Because we won't stop and listen to 00:16:49.169 --> 00:16:57.190 Him. Psalm 46 .10 says, Be still and know that 00:16:57.190 --> 00:17:00.809 I am God. Some of your translations may say something 00:17:00.809 --> 00:17:04.099 like, Stop your fighting. And know that I am 00:17:04.099 --> 00:17:07.839 God. Whatever it is that's going on in your life. 00:17:07.940 --> 00:17:09.700 Maybe there's conflict and there's fighting and 00:17:09.700 --> 00:17:14.039 there's feuding. Maybe it's sickness. Maybe it's 00:17:14.039 --> 00:17:18.880 just stress. Whatever the struggle is that keeps 00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:21.859 us going. That keeps us on our toes. That keeps 00:17:21.859 --> 00:17:27.960 us anxious. Maybe today is a good day for you 00:17:27.960 --> 00:17:35.039 to just simply be still. To seek the Lord. Maybe 00:17:35.039 --> 00:17:37.980 today you're Elijah. And you say, I don't want 00:17:37.980 --> 00:17:42.440 to go another step. I don't know if I can. You 00:17:42.440 --> 00:17:46.539 can with the help of the Lord. So I encourage 00:17:46.539 --> 00:17:50.559 you today. I encourage you this week. Would you 00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:54.000 take a minute to sit in the silence? Would you 00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:57.119 take a minute to sit in God's word? Would you 00:17:57.119 --> 00:18:02.019 take a minute just to listen? to what god has 00:18:02.019 --> 00:18:05.680 to say now i'll warn you we don't always like 00:18:05.680 --> 00:18:08.839 what god has to say because sometimes we say 00:18:08.839 --> 00:18:11.180 okay god i'm really struggling right now i need 00:18:11.180 --> 00:18:13.000 some help with this or some help with that god 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:16.240 help me and sometimes we open our heart up to 00:18:16.240 --> 00:18:18.500 god and god begins to reveal things to us that 00:18:18.500 --> 00:18:20.079 are there and we kind of know they're there but 00:18:20.079 --> 00:18:22.880 we we don't want to admit it and as god begins 00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:25.240 to speak sometimes he begins to speak to things 00:18:25.240 --> 00:18:28.490 in our life that that we'd rather not hear, but 00:18:28.490 --> 00:18:29.809 I'm going to tell you what is the most beautiful 00:18:29.809 --> 00:18:33.049 thing when we listen to God and He works in our 00:18:33.049 --> 00:18:35.470 life and there's stuff in our heart that shouldn't 00:18:35.470 --> 00:18:38.990 be there and we just give it to Him. It's a beautiful 00:18:38.990 --> 00:18:46.829 thing. So today I encourage you. Take a moment. 00:18:48.650 --> 00:18:54.910 Sit in silence. Listen to the Lord. Let Him do 00:18:54.910 --> 00:18:59.099 a work. In your life. I can tell you that the 00:18:59.099 --> 00:19:02.140 Lord wants to do a work in your life. Because 00:19:02.140 --> 00:19:04.299 he sent his son Jesus Christ to die on a cross 00:19:04.299 --> 00:19:08.599 so that you could be forgiven. So that you would 00:19:08.599 --> 00:19:11.200 have an opportunity for peace. That peace only 00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:14.039 comes through Jesus who was crucified and resurrected. 00:19:14.140 --> 00:19:17.579 That is the source of our hope and our peace 00:19:17.579 --> 00:19:22.000 today. And so when we call out to the Lord today. 00:19:23.099 --> 00:19:28.279 We can know that he hears us. But do we hear 00:19:28.279 --> 00:19:31.940 him? And maybe today he's speaking. Maybe he 00:19:31.940 --> 00:19:35.579 wants to speak to you through his word. Maybe 00:19:35.579 --> 00:19:38.460 you've already heard him speaking and you just 00:19:38.460 --> 00:19:41.559 haven't been listening. Well, today's a good 00:19:41.559 --> 00:19:45.720 day to sit and to listen to the Lord and to seek 00:19:45.720 --> 00:19:49.039 the peace and the hope that comes through Jesus 00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:54.400 Christ. Let's pray. God, we come to you today. 00:19:54.440 --> 00:19:59.130 We thank you for your... Your good word. And 00:19:59.130 --> 00:20:01.309 maybe there are some in this room or some listening 00:20:01.309 --> 00:20:04.829 online that they feel like Elijah today, dear 00:20:04.829 --> 00:20:07.869 Lord. Maybe their journey has been tough and 00:20:07.869 --> 00:20:12.049 maybe they know you and they've experienced you. 00:20:12.890 --> 00:20:17.130 Maybe they've seen your mighty works. But maybe 00:20:17.130 --> 00:20:19.269 today they just need to hear from you in some 00:20:19.269 --> 00:20:24.329 way, dear Lord. I pray that you would help us 00:20:24.329 --> 00:20:28.279 to take a moment out of our life. and maybe in 00:20:28.279 --> 00:20:30.539 the days to come that we would just carve out 00:20:30.539 --> 00:20:34.599 a little time that we would be still and know 00:20:34.599 --> 00:20:38.400 that you are God, dear Lord, that we have to 00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:40.859 be mindful of that. We have to perhaps remind 00:20:40.859 --> 00:20:44.099 ourselves of your goodness and your mercy and 00:20:44.099 --> 00:20:47.059 your grace and your strength because we do get 00:20:47.059 --> 00:20:51.140 busy, dear Lord. Life is hard. But I pray, God, 00:20:51.160 --> 00:20:53.220 that these scriptures today would be a reminder 00:20:53.220 --> 00:20:58.519 to us. Just to take a minute to praise you, to 00:20:58.519 --> 00:21:00.539 rejoice in you, dear Lord, to thank you for who 00:21:00.539 --> 00:21:05.000 you are. God, I pray that if there are some that 00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:08.500 don't know Jesus Christ today, if they've been 00:21:08.500 --> 00:21:11.420 looking for peace and hope, they might have been 00:21:11.420 --> 00:21:13.720 looking all over this world for it. I pray today 00:21:13.720 --> 00:21:15.720 through these words that they would find it. 00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:19.480 That today that they would just take a moment 00:21:19.480 --> 00:21:21.500 to say, I'm tired of running. I'm tired, dear 00:21:21.500 --> 00:21:24.720 Lord. And God, just as you provided for Elijah, 00:21:24.859 --> 00:21:27.099 I pray that in their heart and soul today that 00:21:27.099 --> 00:21:30.319 you would just meet their need, God. That you 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:32.160 would give them the strength and the sustenance 00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:35.859 they need spiritually just to be filled, God. 00:21:38.299 --> 00:21:40.240 I pray, dear Lord, that you would help us to 00:21:40.240 --> 00:21:44.079 be able to hear you clearly. That you would block 00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:48.200 out all the junk. We all got it. But don't let 00:21:48.200 --> 00:21:50.799 the enemy... Mess with our mind and mess with 00:21:50.799 --> 00:21:53.019 our heart right now. Just let us take a moment, 00:21:53.039 --> 00:21:56.359 dear Lord, in these last few minutes to seek 00:21:56.359 --> 00:22:00.660 you and to hear from you. In Jesus' name I pray 00:22:00.660 --> 00:22:01.440 it. Amen.