How We Grow (2)
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“Our Study Time
“Our Study Time
welcome
I am pastor Joseph
Today we are continuing on in our mini series How We Grow
Recap last week
Talk about story at CCU with Prof. Jones in NT class
Read Proverbs 2.3-8
yes, if you call out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures,
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
guarding the paths of justice
and watching over the way of his saints.
Lets Pray
talk about this scripture
If we want to grow as Christians, disciples, as individuals than these are three key ingredients...
fear of the lord, knowledge of God, and wisdom
talk on context; there was no bible then, they had the law but no bible the way we know it...
so how do we grow we must be with God in his word, in him
john 1.1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
talk on this with power.....
How we grow is by being in the word of God and being in communion/communication with God
talk on the balance needed
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
talk on this
switching love with God
its a balance church
being in prayer, and being in the word of God
So, he have talked about what we do in that time of rest
lets now talk a little bit on ways that might help us in our devotional time with God
Time
Time
again these are ways, not hard requirements
but time is important, when do we choose to spend our time with God....
lets look at scripture real quick shall we
mark 1.35
And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
lets get this out of the way first shall we....
“Pastor Joseph jesus didn't read the word he just prayed....(deathly stare)
Jesus was the walking word....
As we read earlier in the passage, Jesus had been ministering to people at Simon’s house until very late the night before.
People were crowding in. Everyone probably assumed that He would continue this successful ministry there.
But as we read here, He didn’t. After His disciples found Him, Jesus said in :38, “Let us go somewhere else, to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also, for that is what I came for.”
Jesus did NOT do what everybody thought He would. After He spent time with the Father, He got the specific direction that they were to move on instead.
talk on this
joke about not getting instruction to go back to bed....
when we spend time with God in the morning we are directed, encouraged, uplifted, and able to go about our day with energy
well i spend time with God before bed, and i would say great!! we should be doing that as well...
in fact scripture says
Psalm 119:164 (ESV)
Seven times a day I praise you....
all through out the day....
but nonetheless we must set aside that key time, we have to make that time a point
and think of it this way
Ephesians 6 talks about are battle, we are in battle daily, so do what? put on your FULL armor of God...
when do we put that full armor on? after battle? or BEFORE??
but I get up at 6 to get ready for work? well then set your alarm for 5!
talk about story of “Rudy” and study time...
we were waking up early texting eachother to hold each other accountable
Side note if you can, find one of those....a good friend, or your spouce but haveing that accountablility partner will help....
anyway, he went on vacation didnt set an alarm, kept telling himself he would do it at this time, but something always came up
if we dont have that set time, we will always keep pushin it back....
Place
Place
And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
Jesus went out to a desolate place...
the place in which we choose for our devotional time is important
it must be void of all distraction, interruptions, devices, people…etc
listen to this quote
“If possible, there should be no telephone in your writing room, certainly no TV or video games for you to fool around with. If there’s a window, draw the curtains or pull down the shades unless it looks out at a blank wall. For any writer, but for the beginning writer in particular, it’s wise to eliminate every possible distraction. … But you need the room, you need the door, and you need the determination to shut the door.”
this was Stephen King talking about finding a place to get away and write
so to when we are finding a place to grow in christ...
Now, i understand that when we get up early to pray that a lot of times might lead to falling asleep so one way to avoid this might be doing a prayer walk...
and well some of us here have one of the best places to go on that prayer walk...
because ill be honest i have fallen asleep when i first started implementing a early morning devotional time and i am sitting there praying or reading...
joke on this...
but i will say i have NEVER fallen asleep when i am walking, although maybe not everyone of us can say that…lol
talk on dedicating this time to God, and not fishing on your prayer walk...
try and get a physical bible if you can, becasue like everything your phone can and will lead to distraction...
so, place, a quiet, free from distraction place is the best...
Plan
Plan
real quickly the third tip, or recommendation would be…have a plan
talk about what pastor G would do before he even began praying......
have a plan for prayer...
well how do I pray? and that is a solid question...
Jesus gave us an example, not a SCRIPT on what to pray for an, an outline
And he said to them, “When you pray, say:
“Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.”
Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
now we will dive into this one way deeper but simply put this is an example
— It begins by praising God: “Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name.” So it is teaching us to begin our prayers with praise and Thanksgiving. This is just what Psalm 100:4 says, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise.”
— Then we pray about the things of God’s kingdom (His church, His ministers — here is where you can pray for your pastor, please!); His missionaries and mission works — all the things of His kingdom.
— Pray for areas of His will to be done, including what you have to do in the day ahead. Not what you want to do, but HIS will for the day. This is where I prayerfully make a list for the day, that what I do would be His will, and that He would bless the works of my hands that day as I do His will.
— Then “give us this day our daily bread” — that means pray for needs, for yourself and others.
— Then you spend some time asking forgiveness for your sins, and not to be led into temptation to sin.
so again have a plan, meditate on God before going to him in prayer, it helps...
and lastly but not least
The Person
The Person
who are you meeting with, do you know?
we are meeting with the Great I Am, God almighty himself
and church we must be persistent in our time with God
in Mark 1 Jesus was doing great works for the kingdom already, here in this verse he was up late the night before, yet he made it a point to get up early the next morning
but that was Jesus....well yes it was, the example we are all striving to be LIKE....
he was persistent
David said in Psalm 5.3
O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.
in some translations is says “In the morning, O LORD, You WILL hear my voice. In the morning, I WILL order my prayer to You, and eagerly watch.”
There is persistence there...
You WILL hear my voice, I WILL pray to you…come on church....
Now Listen, the enemy is out there he is seeking to distract you and you will not set your time aside if you are not fully commited
our flesh wants to hit that snooze button, our desire might be to get that extra hour half hour of sleep
but be commited to growing in christ, growing as a person, growing as a disciple
and it makes it easier when we know who it is we are spending time with
the one who gives us life abundantly, the one who loves us, the one who gives us purpose, the one who has a plan for us, the one who heals, who forgives, who strengthens, who sets free....come on
now understand, this isnt supposed to be some religious thing…its not about coming to church and bragging “i got up at 4... what time did you?”
no, its about spending time with God, growing in who we are in him
And understand this, It is possible to get all caught up in the techniques of “Bible study”, or following the right outline or prayer, or the mechanics of the daily devotional time, or whatever — and neglect what we are really there for in the first place: to meet with the Person of God Himself!
dont get caught up in that
ultimatly God hears you no matter what, down to your groans, the holy spirit is our helper interceding on our behalf...
dont worry about, am i doing it right, cause as long as your with the father your in good hands…and thats not allstate commercial...
DO NOT FORGET WHO YOU ARE THERE TO MEET WITH! You are there to meet with the Person of God. He created you to live with Him forever in heaven, but you can begin to meet with him right NOW, every day, in your own daily walk with God — just a foretaste here on earth, of what we will enjoy with Him forever in heaven.
Lets pray
HOLY SPIRIT TAKE OVER.....