Sharing good news of great joy to all people,
Elation Church. Welcome to week number four in
our series entitled One Thing. It's cool to see
how God works and God just continues to bless
and use His Word, right? Expound on it, right?
Takes you further, takes you on a journey, right?
Leads you to where you need to go. I wanted to
start today a little differently. Instead of
opening up our immediate passage like our text
that we've been reading out of, I want us to
go back on week two. We finished with the Ephesians
1 prayer. And in it, in Ephesians, Paul is praying
that the followers of Christ would receive revelation
and spiritual wisdom and understanding from God.
And I hope that you picked up, we had some papers
in the back. It actually had the Ephesians 1
prayer. And Paul is, he's talking, he's encouraging
all prayers to pray this. When we come to God,
when we come to Scripture, before we come to
church, we need to be expecting something. We
need to be expecting to hear from God, not just
doing religious duty, not just marking off a
little time card and punch card like, okay, I'm
here, I did my thing, God bless me. I came to
experience God. When I open up my Bible, I come
to hear. what God wants to say to me. I come
to change and be changed because the Word of
God is like a mirror, right? When I come to it,
I look in it, and sometimes I don't look that
good. Sometimes you come to the mirror and you're
like, oh boy, it's going to need some work today.
And then sometimes you come to the mirror and
you're like, all right, we can work with that.
Like something happened, right? Same thing with
the Bible. When we come to the Bible and we're
reading it, it kind of exposes us, right? We
see for ourselves. Sometimes it's like, oh, boy,
oh, my, what's happening? The Holy Spirit starts
working on us a little bit to conform us into
whose image? God's image, right? To make us look
more and more like Christ. The more and more
you spend time with someone, the more you talk
like them, the more you start acting like them,
you pick up their habits. Come on. You know where
I'm going. Don't make me repeat it twice. The
more time you spend with God, the more you're
going to look like him. Hallelujah. More like
you're going to talk like him. He's going to
desire the things that he desires and expect
the things that he expects. Right? All right.
Enough of that. God. Let's go to Ephesians 1
prayer. I want to read it. And then like we finished
in week two, I want us to kind of go over that.
And I want us to pray it, kind of personalize
it, take a hold of it, and pray it for ourselves.
Okay? So if you want to turn in your scriptures.
Open up your Bibles to Ephesians 1, we're reading
15 through 23. It says this, Ever since I first
heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus
and your love for God's people everywhere, I
have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray
for you constantly. Asking God, the glorious
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you
spiritual wisdom and insight. so that you might
grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your
hearts will be flooded with light, so that you
can understand the confident hope he has given
to those he called his holy people, who are his
rich and glorious inheritance. I also pray that
you will understand the incredible greatness
of God's power for us who believe him. This is
the same mighty power that raised Christ from
the dead and seated him in the place of honor
at God's right hand in heavenly realms. Now he
is far above any ruler or authority or power
or leader or anything else, not only in this
world, but also in the world to come. God has
put all things under the authority of Christ
and has made him head over all things. For who?
for the benefit of the church, and the church
is his body, it is made full and complete by
Christ, who fills all things everywhere with
himself. That'll preach. We can just go home
right there. That's good stuff. The word is powerful.
Dad worked on this and converted it to like,
our language for us to take a hold of this okay
so i want us to pray this together and i want
you to do it not just out loud and repeating
words because we all know that you can repeat
words and it means nothing to you all right so
personalize this internalize this and pray something
like this to god okay and this is a practice
that we need to make a habit that we need to
make a ritual in our lives That when we come
to God, we expect to hear from him. We expect
to understand. Okay? Let's pray. And I'm praying
for myself. You pray for yourself. Father, I
ask you this morning for spiritual wisdom, for
revelation, and insight, so I can grow in my
knowledge of you. I pray that my heart will be
flooded with light so I can understand and take
hold of the confident hope you have given me.
I want to know. I want to understand. I want
to take hold of the incredible power and authority
you have made available to me. This same power
that raised Jesus from the dead and seated him
in heavenly places, make it known to me. Reveal
it to me. Make it fresh to me. Jesus, you are
in authority over all things. You are the head.
I am part of your body. I am in you. You are
in me. And all things of this world are under
my feet. Reveal to me who I am in you and all
I have in you. Amen. Amen. Let's dive into our
main text. It's found in Luke 10, 38 through
42. Story of Mary and Martha. Very familiar story,
so don't check out. We're going to read it again
because there's no way that you got a hold of
all of it. In one time or in four times reading.
I feel like we could read the Bible a hundred
times and learn something new because it's living.
It's a living book. So let's read the story.
Verse 38, as Jesus and the disciples continued
on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain
village where a woman named Martha welcomed him
into her home. Her sister Mary sat at the Lord's
feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha
was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing.
She came to Jesus and said, But the Lord said
to her, But there is only one thing worth being
concerned about. Mary has discovered it and it
will not be taken away from her. So as we read
that story, what was the one thing worth being
concerned about? What was the one thing, because
he's talking to Martha, right? What is the one
thing Martha did not do that Mary did? What was
the one thing necessary? What was the one thing
needed? And that was to sit at Jesus' feet and
hear his word. Too many times we mistake proximity
for intimacy. We think that just because Jesus
is in the home that I'm good. We think that like
he's in us. I do my religious duties week in
and week out, whatever. And I feel like that's
all there is to God. And if he needs me, he'll
get a hold of me. So we just kind of live our
life and just, you know, if all of a sudden the
clouds open up and we seek the spectacular. We
want God to just bust open the clouds and all
this kind of stuff. And can he do that? Yeah.
But often we seek the spectacular and miss, miss
the things that God wants to do for us. Miss
what God wants to speak to us. God's not spooky.
The Holy Spirit's not spooky. Okay? Too many
people, we get all weirded out when we start
talking about the Spirit. If you start feeling
that way, that's like, that's not of God. That's
not what this is about, okay? But God wants to
speak to you. He has a word for you. Mary sat
at Jesus' feet and she heard his word. This Greek
word here. It can be listening or heard. Sometimes
it's translated like in different translations
in your Bible. It'll say a different word. But
the Greek word, the definition of it, says to
hear, but it goes beyond just hearing, right?
I can audibly hear a sound and the sound of my
voice bouncing off the walls in this room, but
that doesn't mean I'm listening, right? It's
kind of like when a mother says, I know you hear
me, but you're not listening to me. Kind of grab
your attention a little bit, right? It's the
same thing. But we can also listen. Look, we
can also listen and not understand. We can listen
and not understand. Like we looked at the story
of Samuel. He heard and he was like, he listened,
right? But he didn't quite understand it until
a little bit later, right? Because we need help
listening. We need help of the Holy Spirit to
understand the things that God is speaking to
us, to cause his word to come alive on the inside
of us, to bring revelation. So this word encompasses
both the physical act of hearing and also the
deeper understanding of what is heard. It's beyond
auditory reception. It's also attentive and obedient
response to what is heard. So it's like... Mary's
sitting at the Lord's feet and she's not thinking
about, oh, well, what am I going to do tomorrow?
Or I wonder what we're going to do after this.
Or like, I wonder if, you know, is Jesus going
to do party tricks afterwards? Is he going to
like heal people? Like what's going to happen
after? No, she's not wondering and daydreaming.
She's sitting at Jesus's feet going, come on,
God, give me something. I want to hear something
that's going to change my life. I came here,
and I'm sitting here, and I'm going to take hold
of your word, and I'm going to act upon it. You
give me one thing to stand on, one thing to do,
I'll do it. Because I want to serve you. I want
to follow you, right? I believe you. That's a
sign of belief. That's a sign of faith is the
willingness to act upon the word that is spoken.
Amen? So Mary, she's sitting there with anticipation
and a desire to do. We've talked about that.
So the one thing is necessary for you and for
me. One thing. What are the necessary things?
What do you deem necessary in your life today?
That if, you know, Everything else about today,
just think over the course of one day. If you
didn't do one thing, if you didn't do this one,
like focus on it, would it just all fall to pieces?
If you weren't involved in it, what would it
do? What is the one necessary thing that you
wake up and be like, I got to get this done.
It's the most urgent thing in my life. And is
that the one thing? that Jesus is saying here?
Is that the one necessary thing? We can mistake
the urgent for the necessary. And the urgent
things in our life can be crucial things, can
be critical things, can be important things.
But if you miss the main thing, if you miss the
most important thing in your life, and that is
to hear, from God, you're going to be struggling
and fighting and his life is going to be very
difficult for you when it could be my yoke is
easy and my burden is light. The one thing, the
necessary thing is not for you to logically produce
the works from your hand. But the one necessary
thing is to spend focused, intentional, intimate
time with God and receive a word from Him, and
the rest of these things will be added unto you.
Because what I can do with my own hands is limited
compared to what God can do is unlimited, is
supernatural. So if I want supernatural things
to happen in my life, I can't... break natural
measures, I'm just going to expect a natural
result. If it's all what I can do in my own flesh,
that's all I'm going to get. I'm not going to
get any farther than that. But if my reliance
and my source, come on, stay with me. If I desire
his word, His word fulfills me, gives me more
energy than the bread that I eat, than the food
that I eat. That's when life's going to get really
good. Because that's what God wants for us. This
life is short. It's like a vapor. And we need
to start getting concerned and like, this is
the most important thing. God speaking to us
and us living according to his word. What he's
saying. What he wants us to do. And that doesn't
mean that you go live in a monastery somewhere
like a monk in a cave. No. Because God is where?
God is here. He's on the inside of you. And he
is speaking. He is not far. I'm getting ahead
of myself. But it is at his feet, listen, it
is at his feet that we receive his word. Because
I think this is a really important part that
we miss. There was a lot of people in the room
who didn't receive that word, and it was no value
to them. They heard the sound of it, but it was
no value to him. Jesus himself is speaking things
into the room, but it's no value to those. who
are just hearing it. It's only valuable to those
who are at his feet, ready to receive it. Okay?
Humbling yourself before the Lord. He gives grace
to the humble. He, what? He resists the proud.
Another verse says, I don't have it up there,
sorry. You can Google it. That's the good thing
about Google. It can tell you everything. Not
everything. But he gives grace to the humble.
So those who humble themselves before the Lord,
he gives understanding to. He gives grace. He
gives his word. Someone said this week, I heard
someone say there was a reason why God said,
I want to make sure I say this right. There was
a reason. He's like, he doesn't cast, Jesus doesn't
cast pearls before swine. I don't know if you've
heard that passage before. He's like, I'm not
going to cast my pearls before swine, things
like that. And it was, the point of it was this.
He's not calling us like pigs. But you know,
the pig doesn't value the pearl. Right? You don't
give a pig a pearl. Because he doesn't value
it. It has no value to him, so why give it? So,
in that same way, if we value, if we're hanging
on every word from God and we're living in that,
and that's the most valuable thing to us, we
are going to receive those treasures from heaven.
Okay? So, it is at his feet we receive his word.
The grace with his word. comes the grace and
understanding to do what he wants us to do. And
in these past two weeks, we've talked about how
his word leads us to become who he wants us to
be. I'm just going to sit on this thing because
I wanted to make everybody happy. It's time for
a real talk, okay? Welcome to Jeffrey's TED Talk.
Yeah. I've spent a lot of years, and, like, I
was very blessed and fortunate to grow up in
a home that God mattered and that being in church
mattered and Scripture mattered. That's a blessing,
and that's a privilege. Not a whole lot of people
get, okay? My home was always filled, like, from
the things on the wall to, like, you know, if
LifeWay sold Scripture toilet paper, like, we
would have it. You know what I'm saying? Like,
some people grew up collecting, like, I don't
know, all these kind of things. I grew up, like,
collecting Bibles, you know, and I just, like,
oh, this is a cool one. Let's get this one. Oh,
this one's metal and magnetic. Oh, this one has,
you know, fun colors on it. And it's like, oh,
this is great. And I'm very fortunate. We joke
about that, but I'm like, I'm very fortunate
to grow up in that kind of household. And it
was always stressed upon me the importance of,
like, knowing God, of hearing God. And you hear
all these terms, right? And even in my school,
like, my education was centered around Christian
values. And, like, that was a blessing to me,
right? Because it was constantly taking me back
to who God is. It's constantly, like, grounding
myself, okay? And even in school, like, I go
to Liberty, and then I went to Trinity, and I
graduated. I did nine years, or almost nine years,
and I graduated with a Ph .D. in philosophy and
Christian apologetics, okay? Don't call me doctor.
I will be upset. It's offensive. Don't do it.
I didn't do it to get the title. I did it because
I genuinely wanted to know. And I thought that
learning this information, now this might sound
silly to some of you, but I'm just being honest.
I genuinely thought, there was a point in my
life where I genuinely thought that if I gained
this information, it was going to change who
I was. And it would lead to my becoming who I
needed to be for God. And I thought this information,
I was like, I just need more. I need to read
more. I need to absorb more. And all that's good.
It's important. Don't get me wrong. I love reading.
But there's a difference between reading a book
and reading words. And all of a sudden, God's
speaking to you. Because information, the degree
and the piece of paper on the wall, didn't change
who I was. It didn't impact my life. I didn't
all of a sudden wake up one day and I was just
like, oh, I'm just, you know, wow. Look at me.
When I learned that God would speak to me, And
when I finally figured out what that was like,
it is those moments, those moments that led to
my becoming, to me changing, to me growing in
to who God wants me to be. Because it wasn't
information. Information's important, and I draw
from that a lot. But those times where God revealed
his word to me, The same scriptures that I had
read for hours and hours and hours and writing
papers and all this kind of stuff, that stuff
meant nothing to me. It didn't change my life.
It was just information, just busy work in my
head. And then there was a difference. All of
a sudden I'm like, wow, this means something.
And then it changes the course. It changed my
direction in life. Changed who I was. Changed
who I wanted to become. Changed my focus. Because
only revelation, a word from God, can bring transformation
to you. Not information. We have a lot of information.
But only revelation from God. Him bringing that
to us. And I want to go ahead and put this out
here. I know I'm running out of time. I'm burning
the clock, so to say. But I want to tell you
this. Like, in church, if you grow up in church,
people talk about it. If you're new. People say
things like hearing from God. What does that
mean? God speaks to me. What does that mean and
what does that look like on a day -to -day basis?
I know people who have heard the voice of the
Lord audibly. Okay? I know that. Me personally,
I've never heard an audible voice of the Lord,
but I know that he has spoken to me. Because
when God speaks to you, he... gives you understanding
and revelation about something that you wouldn't.
He brings it into your purview that you wouldn't
naturally know, that you didn't work to receive.
Maybe he pulls from that, but it's an inner knowing.
It's an inner voice from the Holy Spirit that
all of a sudden urges you, prompts you, leads
you, guides you into the truth of his word and
causes it to become a fire on the inside of you,
an unquenchable fire. It just, boom, and all
of a sudden, You, any other thing that you thought
about when the Holy Spirit speaks to you and
it comes alive on the inside of you, you know
beyond a shadow of a doubt. You're like, man,
that was God. God revealed this to me. And you
just got a hold of it. It's a deeper understanding,
okay? That's what it's looked like for me. But
God still does reveal himself. He still speaks
audibly. And all those things happening, but
on a day -to -day basis, the Holy Spirit wants
to lead you in everything, okay? Guide you into
the truth of his word. Recapping a little bit,
Samuel, listen, was in the tabernacle. God spoke
to him multiple times. We learned this was week
two again. We see that God speaks to him multiple
times, but it was not until Samuel recognized
it was God, with a little help from Eli. And
humbled himself, because he said what? He came
and he's like, speak to me, your servant is listening.
That he received a life -changing word that would
lead, that one word from God would lead to his
becoming. From Samuel, and he's just a young
boy. And it doesn't matter how old you are. It
doesn't matter where you are in life. It doesn't
matter what's going on or what you've done or
not done. God has a word for you today. And he
wants to change your life. Then we talked about
Moses. When God saw Moses turn aside, this was
last week, when God saw Moses turn aside from
his routine tasks and concerns, And all of a
sudden he was looking at the burning bush, that
story, and it says that he turns aside and looks.
I think I have it up here. Yeah, Exodus 3, 2
through 5 says this. When the Lord saw, get this,
when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look,
God called to him from the midst of the bush.
When Moses turns away from his tasks of taking
care of the flock or whatever, When he turns
aside to look, that's when God called to him
from the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses.
And he said, here I am. Moses is like, here I
am. The words from this encounter with God changed
his life, led to his becoming. This was the start
date, right? To all the great things that Moses
was going to do. It all started right there with
one word from God. And that's why his word is
so important to us. Something that stood out
to me last week at the end of this, just kind
of want to point this out here. In verse 5 it
says, Then he said, this is God talking to Moses.
It says, Do not draw near this place. Take your
sandals off your feet, for the place where you
stand is holy ground. What changed? What changed?
Moses was standing in the same dirt as he was
before. He's still right there by his little
task, wandering in the wilderness with his little,
you know. He's still just in it. Look, come on.
Did the dirt change? No. He's in the same dirt.
He's in the same location. But now something's
different. Now something's different. Come on.
Moses is standing in God's presence. But I thought
he was in the dirt in Mount Horeb. No, now he
is standing in the presence of God on holy ground.
Take off your sandals. Don't let anything in
this physical life get between you and what I
have for you and the word that I want you to
speak. Throw it off. Get it away. Taste and see.
The Lord is good. Amen? Moses is standing in
God's presence on holy ground. Moses was at two
places at one time. Think about it. He's at two
places. His flesh was in the desert at Mount
Horeb, but his spirit is now in the presence
of God. There's a lesson here. Don't miss it.
You don't have to go off. You don't have to have
some physical geographical place to access the
presence of God. And don't let anyone tell you
otherwise. You have access. Say, I have access.
I have access to the throne room of eternity.
I have access to the very presence of God right
here where I'm at. No matter where. No matter
I'm at work, I'm in my car. No matter. I have
access. But it takes me to turn aside. It takes
me humbling myself. It takes me sitting at his
feet, valuing his word. No matter where you are
in the natural, you have access to the presence,
to his presence. let's turn now to ephesians
it says god even when we were dead in trespasses
i love this made us alive together with christ
get happy we are made alive some of us still
feel like we're dead in the room we're dead from
the day before no we're alive together with christ
amen by grace we have been saved And he raised
us up together. Woo! He's alive. God's alive.
We're coming in on Easter. I'm already happy
about it. He's alive, and he raised us up together.
His resurrection promises us our resurrection,
right? So we will rise up with him, together
with Christ. Why? Because we are in him. And
he made us what? Sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus. We just read this and we don't
act like it's real. But it's time for the people
of God to start acting like the word of God is
real. God's waiting on us to get a hold of it,
to walk in it, to believe it. Because you live
and you act on what you believe. And if you're
like, well, I believe it, but I don't really
do it, no, you're just deceiving yourself. And
a lot of times we, you know, if you're a Christian,
you believe that that's a part of that, is you've
been made alive together with Christ, that by
grace you've been saved. You take a hold of that.
If you haven't taken a hold of that, you're not
a Christian. Okay? And he's raised us up together.
We're going to be raised up with him. That's
a promise for God. We take a hold of, but we
stop there. This third thing here says that he
made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus. So God is in us. Everybody say, God is
in me. God is in me. And he is seated. Where's
God seated? He's seated at the right hand of
the Father. And since we are in Christ, who's
in Christ? Raise your hand. There you go. I'll
embarrass you if you don't raise your hand. It's
fine. Since we are in Christ, get this. The verse
just said, we are seated with him in his presence
in heaven. Woo! Come on. I may be right here
today and talking, but man, in Christ, I'm seated
at the right hand of the Father. God is sitting
down. His word is yes and amen. His promises
are fulfilled. Amen. His promises are already
there and available for us and we have access
to it. When we pray, we're not saying like, oh,
manufacture this thing for me to have. He's already
made it available. He's just like, you need to
take a hold of it. And many Christians are not
entering into the things in which they have access
to. And you're missing out. And it's not that
God's holding out on you. And if you only knew
what you were missing out on, if you only knew
what a relationship with God looks like and fellowship
with Him, Constantly. Few only knew. But we are
seated with him in the presence in heaven. 1
Corinthians 6 .19 says this. Don't you realize
that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit
who lives in you and was given to you by God.
This word temple is very interesting. The Greek
word here. is referring specifically to the inner
sanctuary. So if you're familiar with the tabernacle
or the temple in the Old Testament, and that
picture, it's not just referring to the whole
outer court. They had different layers, and this
is referring to where God's presence dwelt, the
Holy of Holies, the innermost part. which only
the high priest could enter once a year on the
Day of Atonement. So God here is not saying that
we are just the general temple, but we are this
inner part, the holiest of holies, the place
with immediate intimate access to God. So we
have immediate unlimited access to the most holy,
sacred place. And if we're in God's presence,
and he's in heaven, when we enter in, we are
entering into the throne room of eternity. When
we come to him, when we turn aside, you've got
to realize that your body may be in a physical
place, but your spirit, because we're spirit
beings, God is spirit, we're spirit beings. And
by the Spirit, by the Holy Spirit on the inside
of us, by the blood of Jesus, has given us access
to this place. Jesus had a, I would say, you
know, as our archetype, as our model for how
to live, right? He prayed a lot. He communed
with the Father a lot. In fact, he said, anything
that you hear me say is from my Father. It's
because my Father told me, right? He also, at
times, would go off. Like after he fed the 5
,000s, he would go off and he would pray to his
Father in heaven. At the Garden of Gethsemane,
he would pray. He would have those times. Why
was it important for Jesus to have those times
with the Father? Think about it. Just a little
food for thought. I think it was important to
him, but also I think as a model for us, we need
to see that importance. If it was important to
the master, is it not important for the servant?
I don't believe we're placing enough importance
on this. We need times of intimate fellowship
and communion with the Father. We say that cliche
like Christianity is a relationship. You know,
it's not a religion, it's a relationship. God
really wants fellowship, uninterrupted fellowship
with you to do life together. And in Matthew
6, we're about to turn there. There's something
very interesting, and then we're done today.
But the disciples come to Jesus. Listen, don't
miss this. The disciples come to Jesus and they
say, teach us how to pray. And a lot of times
we focus on the prayer, which is the Lord's prayer.
Our God in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Your
kingdom come, your will be done. How many of
you have heard that? Yeah, we focus on that.
And a lot of times we'll even pray that before
certain things. And it's fine, even though God
warns us about vain repetition. Sorry. So we
need to be careful because he's a person, we're
a person. If I went to my wife every single day
and I was just like, you know, hey, honey, how's
it going? You're great. You're beautiful. Bye.
If I said that exact same rhyme like every single,
like just every single day and that was it, what
kind of relationship would we have? That'd be
pretty poor, right? Yeah. So don't say the same
things. I ain't going to listen to that. You
know, that's not. That's not cool. But listen,
in Matthew 6, I want you, don't miss this, before
Jesus gives them what to pray, because the disciples,
they're going, teach us how to pray. We see that
you go off and you're talking to God and something
about your prayer is so different and so radically
different than mine. And you come back and all
of a sudden, you know, you've been with the Father,
you're saying like, something's different. I'm
missing out on something. And it's funny, they
didn't say, like, teach us how to heal. Teach
us how to do all these spectacular things. You
know, they're coming to him and they're saying,
teach us how to pray. Teach us how to pray like
you pray. And before he tells them what to pray,
listen, a lot of times we skip over this little
introductory part. Before he tells them what
to pray, he tells them how to pray and where
to pray. Look at this. Matthew 6, 6. When you
pray, go into your room. And when you have shut
your door, pray to your Father who is in the
secret place. And your Father who sees in secret
will reward you openly. Let's break that down.
So when you pray, he says to enter, to come into.
Okay? He's saying to enter. It's interesting,
right? When you pray, enter. Come into. Where
are we going to? Your room. I thought your was
just kind of like inserted, but it's actually
there. It's personal. It's possessive. Your room.
And that word there, that Greek word, temion,
it conveys the concept of a private or inner
room. It's used in the New Testament specifically
to refer to a place of privacy or intimacy. It's
a metaphoric place. An inner place, not a physical
place. Got me? Tracking? We're good? So when
you pray, go into your... Room, something that
belongs to you, something that you have access
to and enter in. You know, when you walked in
this room this morning, you were out in the lobby.
When you cross that threshold, all of a sudden
it's like, boom, the whole room's bigger. Things
change. It's a different place. And I believe
this is one of those thresholds that God wants
us to cross. If you don't like where you're at,
you need to enter into his presence. And look,
everything gets better. Everything's better in
the presence of God. Come on. If you don't like
your surroundings, get over and enter. Cross.
Come into. Inside. Where are we going? This is
not saying that you have to pray in a closet.
There was a popular Christian movie that kind
of promoted this idea, and I've heard people
all my life talk about this inner closet. You've
got to find a closet, have your little prayer
place. And that's fine, right? You sit in your
car and you find a little place to quiet your
mind and to eliminate distractions. Everybody
has their own process, right? But we don't need
to make that thing just... Sacrilege, some kind
of religious thing that's not reality. Because
God, a lot of times we like to treat God as like,
well, I visit him and then I leave him. Once
I leave this place of intimacy, I walk out and
keep going about my day. So I keep returning
when I need a recharge or a fill. And then I
go out into my life and then everything's normal.
Nothing changes. God doesn't want this. He wants
this. He wants your heart. He wants your day.
He wants your moments. He wants your breath.
He wants your life to be a living sacrifice to
him. It's pleasing to him, right? We don't have
to pray in a closet because we have access. When
we pray, we are commanded to enter our inner
private place that belongs to us. Come on. And
get this. A little fun, little inclusion here.
When you have shut your door. When you have shut
your door. So that is meaning, those are the
words there, and it means to shut, to close,
to lock the door, gate, or entrance. It describes
the act of closing a door with the implication
of preventing entry or access. This is an important
thing that can keep you from entering in. So
we're supposed to enter in our inner place because
we are the temple. We're entering in the presence
of God. And we have to shut the door. Look to
your neighbor and say, it's time to shut the
door. Time to shut the door. A lot of times,
a lot of times we're like, well, my mind just
wants to go this way and over here, and I just,
you know, I don't have, you know, everything's
just distracting. Soon as I'm trying to do that,
you know, I have good intention, I have desire,
and I go, and then something's knocking, something's
pulling at me, pulling away. Now, it can be good
things. It can be urgent things that pull you
away. But in those moments, you need to realize
that it's the thief who comes to steal. What
is he stealing? The most valuable thing to you
is what he steals. And if he can steal God's
word from you, he can keep you from being, keep
you from having the promises, keep you. From
experiencing God. We have control. And before
you say, well, I just don't have control, and
you don't understand, that's the fruit of the
Spirit. It's just been like on me lately. But
I have control over what has entry or access
to me. Why? Because I'm strong enough? Can I
build up mental fortitude enough to prevent things
giving me access? Maybe if I can just hold that
door shut. Put on some noise -canceling headphones
and block out the world around me. And just,
I'll go to some village and, you know. Is that
what God wants? No. See, we've got to realize
when we read things like this in Scripture, God's
telling you to do something. He's commanding
you. And God's command and his word gives you
the ability to stand on it for it to be real
in your life. So if he says I can shut the door,
then I have the ability to. And if the enemy
tries to say, you can't do that, you turn around
and tell the enemy. Say, you have no authority
here. Come on, I'm in Christ. He is above all
things. He's in authority. I'm in Him. And you're
under my feet. If God has authority to do it,
I have authority in Him. And if He's telling
me that I can, then I have the ability to. We
have the authority over what has access to us.
We have authority over what can pull us away.
We have control and authority over our minds,
the thoughts and what I think. I have control
over my focus. I have control over that. And
God has given me that authority. Especially when
my focus is for Him and on Him, nothing can pull
me away. Because that is my God -given command.
That's my God -given right. So shut the door.
Turn aside. Shut the door. Let's continue on.
The father who is in the secret place and your
father who sees in secret, We reward you openly.
Your prayer life, because you are a house of
prayer. The temple of God was a house of prayer.
And God sees that. And what happens in that time
and that fellowship with him impacts everything
outside of that moment. If you could draw a circle
around you while you were praying, whether you're
at your job or whatever, I don't care what you're
doing, if you're praying and in the Spirit and
talking to God and you're fellowshipping with
Him, everything outside of that circle is going
to be fine. It's going to be taken care of. That's
all God wants for you. That's all you need. He
provides. He's the source. We've been talking
about that all day, right? He's the source. He
provides. He takes care of me. He leads me beside
still waters. So why do I fear? Why do I worry?
If I'm with God, I'm talking with him, and my
value is his word and his treasure, right? And
it's not the stuff. The things of God are not
the stuff of God. If we get concerned trying
to achieve the stuff, we're never going to have
anything. Right? It's about the person. It's
about the person. And that's what God wants for
you. He just wants you. The other week, someone,
they were like, you know, they were coming to
me, and I was like, God just wants you. They're
like, what do you have me to do? God just wants
you. He wants to spend time with you. He'll show
you. He'll do something for you. He'll lead you.
He'll guide you. That's what he wants. And that's
what we need more than anything else. This year,
this week, I don't care what you came in with.
I don't care what baggage you got. I don't care
what's happening in your life. The one thing
you need and the one necessary thing I need is
not more information, but I need revelation from
God. Amen? Pray to your Father who is in the
secret place. This refers to what is not visible
or known to others. It contrasts to what is outwardly
visible to what is inwardly concealed. It's heaven.
It's the holy ground that Moses was standing
on. It's the secret place of God. And I don't
know if you've ever been to Disney before. There's
these places in each park called Club 33 lounges.
I know we're in the Disney Mecca, so, you know,
illustrations are slim. So, but in the parks,
there's like a secret place where only those
who have access can enter, can step away from
the day -to -day and the fun and all the crowd,
and they can be nourished, and they can have,
you know, come on, and they can enter into a
place that only they have access to. Heaven is
not a secret place because it is hidden from
us or he's hiding it from us. It's secret because
only those who are in Christ have access to enter
and take hold of the God -given rights and privileges.
I read this the first week, but it's so powerful.
We just got to see this again in this light.
Hebrews 10, 19. And so, dear brothers and sisters,
we can boldly enter heaven's most holy place.
Not just heaven. It's not just the outer courts.
And those are wonderful. It's not just that.
We can enter the most holy place. The holiest
of holy place. The throne room. Come on. By his
death, Jesus opened a new and life -giving way
through the curtain into the most holy place.
If we're not entering it, we're not taking advantage
of the things that God has for us. He's made
something available to us that we're not walking
into. And as Christians, I think we need to realize
this. We need to start doing it. I don't care
if you've not done it, but we need to change
and start entering in. Because once you know,
once it's revealed to you, you need to take a
hold of it and walk in it. So enter through the
curtain into the most holy place. So let us come
boldly. This is verse 16, backing up. So let
us come boldly to the throne of our gracious
God. And what? There we will receive his mercy,
and we will find grace to help us when we need
it the most. How many of you are thankful for
the mercy of God? How many are thankful for the
grace and his precious promises from him? It's
there. It's that place is where we receive it.
It's not praying and asking for those things.
It's at his feet. When we humble ourselves before
God, that's when those things come real to us.
That's when the word of God, we receive it, and
then now I can do the impossible because I'm
standing on a word from God. I have the ability.
I have the authority. With one word from God,
You can walk across the water and defy the natural
laws of reality, right? With one word from God,
that's something I can stand upon, something
that I can take to the bank. Because it matters.
You and I need a word for God more than anything
else, more than your next meal, more than your
next breath. We need a word from God. And what
happens in 1 Corinthians 2, 9 through 10? This
is fun. But as it is written, I have not seen,
nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart
of man the things in which God has prepared for
those who love him. God has something that's
mind -boggling. I'm popping. Greater things than
you can even imagine he has prepared for those.
Don't get mad at me. This is what the Bible says.
If you have a problem with it, you have a problem
with Scripture. Don't think God wants you broke,
busted, and disgusted. He has great things prepared
for you. Do you believe that? His plans for you
are good to prosper, Jeremiah 29, 11, to give
you a future and a hope. That's who God is. Don't
let anybody tell you otherwise. That's what he
has for you. We need to believe that. I'm just
letting it sit because I want you to see it.
I want you to get a hold of this and really,
really get it. Things that you can't even see.
Things that you have never heard. Things that
have never entered your heart. He has prepared
for those great and precious things for you.
But God has what revealed them to us, how? Through
his Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things,
yes, the deep things of God. Now we have received,
not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit who
is from God, that we might know the things that
have been freely given to us by God. I will know
them. I will see them. I will see them before
I see it. Right? The things that God has freely
given to us. One thing is necessary to spend
focused, intentional, intimate time with God
and receive a word from him. Sit at his feet.
Sit at his feet. Humble yourselves before him.
And say, speak, your servant is listening. Right?
And turn aside from the trivial things in your
life and value his word. Value his word more
than anything else. This online worship experience
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