Untitled Sermon

Week Two

Picture this: Your parents are having friends over that night, and you need to clean your room.

- Where does everything get stuffed, so that you don’t have to really clean?

o Many of us have a room like this in our prayer lives. A space where we don’t want to invite God.

If we are to connect with God, we have to be open and revealed to Him

- Adam and Eve in the garden – they hid from God

Psalm 13

1How long, Lord? Will You forget me forever?

How long will You hide Your face from me?

2How long am I to feel anxious in my soul,

With grief in my heart all the day?

How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

3Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;

Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,

4And my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”

And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken.

Embarrassing story of Sam’s first “girlfriend”

- She dumped me one week in

o I was too terrified to be present with Veronica, and my hiding broke the relationship.

Jordan Petersons grandpa and the plates

- Parts are remaining hidden, and in that they are lashing out

5But I have trusted in Your faithfulness;

My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.

6I will sing to the Lord,

Because He has looked after me.

- Not only does the Psalmist call us to be honest, but he draws us back to reality

o

We often remain blind to parts of ourselves that others just know as fact (God KNOWS that you’re __________ )

- Christian spirituality requires us to acknowledge every part of who we are and expose them to God’s divine love

o The Psalmist names that God WILL look after Him.

Have you been truly open and honest with God?

Practices you could try

1. Write a letter to God that is fully honest, pray over the letter, then promptly destroy it.

2. Ask 3-5 people who you trust (They should be adults) to answer some questions. What is something about me that is truly a God given gift, and (only if you’re open to it) what is something about me you wish was different?

a. Write down all the things people say – more likely then not there will be similarities in what people say

3. Imaginative Prayer – Find a quiet place, and picture Jesus coming to you and speaking with you. What does He say?

4. Ask God if there is anything you’re holding back from Him