Search Me

Intro

I have always liked spy movies. I think its a combination of the action and the suspense of the spy getting caught that is so intriguing.

But these movies are also very formulaic. What I mean by that is that they all follow a similar formula for their story.

And inevitably when you watch one of these movies you know that at some point, the hero of the story is going to get caught.

And while in captivity, the main bad guy will try to convince the good guy to tell him what he knows, but like all strong heroes, he will protest.

Then the creepy guy with a bag or suitcase walks in and begins to get his tools out if you will.

It becomes clear that this guy is the torture expert who has been tasked with getting our guy to talk.

And there are a number or unpleasent things that they will threaten our protaginist with.

But the thing that I always found interesting is when they pull out the syringe containg a strange chemical.

The technical name they give it is sodium pentothal, but we know it as the dreaded “truth serum”.

And they inject it in the guy, normally in the neck which makes no sense because a vein in the arm would be ideal, but its a movie.

And then our hero despite putting up a good fight begins to spill the beans and tell our bad guy everything he wants to know.

This truth serum is revealing things that the hero was trying to keep hidden.

If we are honest, we all have things in our lives that we are trying to keep hidden don’t we.

Secret motives, thoughts, fears, desires, and temptations. Things that we don’t really want other to know about.

Because if others knew about them then we would be forced to confront those things and deal with them.

And sometimes, there are things about ourselves that we don’t even really understand.

There are secret motives, fears, and desires that are buried so deep that we don’t even realize we have them.

Its like we need a truth serum in our lives to bring these things to the surface so we can deal with them.

Danger Zone

Last week we began a new series titled Dangerous Prayers. And the premise of this series is that when it comes to prayer, so often we pray...

safe prayers

predictable prayers

even empty prayers

When we do this, it inevitably impacts our prayer life. Instead of it being passionate, powerful, and full of life, our prayer has become routine and dull.

And as I said last week, one of the ways that we can correct this and bring the power and passion back to our prayer life is by learning to start praying dangerous prayers.

The kind of prayers that carry risk. Risk in the sense that we may not like the answers we get.

But they also carry the potential for great reward and blessing.

An example I gave last week was Jesus’s prayer in the Garden of Gesthemene.

Here he prayed for there to be another way for God the Father’s plan to redeem humanity.

A way that avoided the cup of God’s wrath.

But then he prayed not that his will would done but that the Father’s will would be done.

And that is dangerous. To pray that God’s will would be done no matter what, especially when we know that his will may cost us dearly or that we don’t know what his will is to begin with.

This morning I want to point us to another dangerous prayer that we see in the scriptures.

It was a prayer that David prayed and lived out in his life.

Power in the Text

David, while he is remembered as Israel’s greatest king, wasn’t its first. The Bible tells us that before David was king, Israel’s first king, Saul felt threatened by him.

So King Saul falsely accused David of treason and sent his troops on mulitple occasions to find and kill him.

So David knew that his safety was at risk and that King Saul was a threat to his life.

Well, David wasn’t going to take it lying down and decided he was going to go on the offensive and take out King Saul before King Saul took him out.

We read in 1 Samuel of an opportunity that arose for David to do just that. We see that Saul and his men are on the search for David and while traveling they come to a cave.

Like anyone on a journey, one must stop on occasion for a bathroom break.

And that is exactly what Saul did. The bible says he went into a cave to go to the bathroom and it was here that David sees an opportunity.

1 Samuel 24:4 NLT 4 “Now’s your opportunity!” David’s men whispered to him. “Today the Lord is telling you, ‘I will certainly put your enemy into your power, to do with as you wish.’ ” So David crept forward and cut off a piece of the hem of Saul’s robe.

Remember, David at this point has already been anointed as Israel’s next king. He knew Saul’s time on the throne was limited and it would one day by his.

He could have easily went into that cave and killed the one who had falsely accused him and had been hunting him.

Instead he does something strange. He cuts the hem of his robe. Likely an outer robe that Saul had taken off to, as the Bible says, releave himself.

Why cut the robe and not just end Saul right then and there.

1 Samuel 24:5-7 NLT 5 But then David’s conscience began bothering him because he had cut Saul’s robe. 6 He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this to my lord the king. I shouldn’t attack the Lord’s anointed one, for the Lord himself has chosen him.” 7 So David restrained his men and did not let them kill Saul.

David had a chance, but the bible says his conscience began bothering him. Instead of stopping his attacker and the roadblock to his throne he showed him mercy.

In fact we read that as Saul came out of the cave, David shouted to him from a distance and bowed in reverance to him.

He showed him the piece of his robe that had been cut and said...

1 Samuel 24:9-11 NLT 9 Then he shouted to Saul, “Why do you listen to the people who say I am trying to harm you? 10 This very day you can see with your own eyes it isn’t true. For the Lord placed you at my mercy back there in the cave. Some of my men told me to kill you, but I spared you. For I said, ‘I will never harm the king—he is the Lord’s anointed one.’

11 Look, my father, at what I have in my hand. It is a piece of the hem of your robe! I cut it off, but I didn’t kill you. This proves that I am not trying to harm you and that I have not sinned against you, even though you have been hunting for me to kill me.

David had his chance. He was tired of running and hiding for something he didn’t do.

But when given the opportunity to do something about it, he relented. Why? Because it was more important for David to do what was good, than what made his life easier.

Despite David’s faults, the Bible says he was a man after God’s own heart. He was connect to God and could perceive his guidance and direction.

This brought conviction when necessary. David was so in tune with God that he knew when his motives weren’t honorable.

We know this was how David operated in his life because we can see one of Davids most vulnerable prayers in the book of Psalms.

It are these vulnerable words that David prayed that made it a dangerous prayer.

Psalm 139:23-24 NLT 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

Why so Dangerous?

You see David understood something about the human heart. He realized that there were things that we keep hidden from others, but that there are also things that we keep hidden even from ourselves.

I said in the beginning of this message that we need a truth serum sometimes to reveal those hidden motives, fears, and desires that we sometimes don’t even realize we have.

This prayer is that truth serum.

When you start praying like this, you need to be prepared to learn some things about yourself that you may not like.

No only is this prayer difficult to pray, but its even more challenging to apply and live out.

Because if you have the courage to pray it, then you’ll need to exercise the courage to live what God shows you in reply.

So don’t pray it if you don’t mean it.

Understand that this prayer has the potential to convict you of things you didn’t know you needed convicted of.

It has the potential to...

correct you

redirect your life

change the way you see yourself

change how others see you.

Why it Matters

And for some this seems like an odd thing to pray.

I mean if God is omniscient, doesn’t he already know what’s in my heart?

Doesn’t God know my motives, thoughts, and desires? Why am I asking him to search me?

I think we ask this question because we generally think we have a good idea of what is going on in our own hearts don’t we.

I know...

my motives

what is most important

why I do what I do

Even if the answer to those things isn’t always good, we know the answer.

And I think we also ask this question because we tend to, even though we know we are sinners, we tend to paint ourselves in a better light than we deserve.

Afterall, for the most part I have a good heart. I’m not try to hurt people. I want to do what is right, my heart is good.

But the Bible actually reveals the exact opposite to us.

The Old Testement prophet Jeremiah tells us something that many might find offensive.

He says that not only do you and I and everybody else not have a good heart, but that it is wicked in all its ways, in ways we can’t comprehend.

Jeremiah 17:9 NLT 9 “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?

Why do we ask God to search our hearts? It isn’t to cue him in on what is going on, it is to show us what is going on.

Jeremiah says our hearts are full of lies and desperately wicked. They are so bad that he asks who can really know it?

Not us. We might think we do, but we have no clue.

Then Jeremiah goes on to say...

Jeremiah 17:10 NLT 10 But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”

Application/Closing

The truth is, apart from Jesus our hearts can’t be trusted. Our evaluation of ourselves can’t be trusted.

The closer we get to Jesus, the more we have to face our shortcomings and sin.

pride

selfishness

lust

addiction

a critical spirit

Praying this dangerous prayer can open a channel of communication to God that is unlike anything you have experienced before.

Instead of simply asking God to do something for you, ask him to reveal something in you.

This moment of truth with God may not change you instantly, but it will help you recognize your need.

1 John 1:8-9 NLT 8 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

When you pray this prayer that David prayed, be prepared to do what John tells us we must do.

confess not only the things in your heart that are wicked, but have the courage to allow this revelation to redirect your life.

You aren’t fooling God, so stop trying. Oh that we would be humble enough to pray

Search my heart Lord, search my heart.