Search my Heart

Well welcome to week two of our series that we have entitled Dangerous Prayers. But they are dangerous in a good way, they are not easy, these are not safe prayers. Most people pray safe prayers, God bless us, help us protects us. These prayers are not safe, because when you actually pray them to God and live them out in your life God will move you out of your comfort zone, it will take courage for you to step into faith and into action. These prayers when prayed will cause you to change, they are dangerous because God will answer them, and you have to respond.  Last week as Prayed the Dangerous Prayer, Make me Bold. That was out foundational prayer because the next three week we will look at prayers that require boldness to pray and boldness to apply.

Today we starting with an equally Dangerous Prayer that King David in the Old Testament prayed in the book of Psalms chapter 139. The book of Psalms are praises, laments and prayers to God. David is praying this prayer after his enemies were on the attack, and they accused David of having wrong motives. Now instead of doing what we would normally do, and defend ourselves when someone attacks our character, David prays a very dangerous prayer, he goes before God and asks God to search his heart. Open your bibles and get out your notes to Psalm 139 starting in verse 23 and 24. I am going to read it first, then I am going to ask all of you to read it along a second time.

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. That’s a Dangerous prayer to pray. Now lets say it out loud all together… Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. In order for us to fully understand this prayer I am going to break it down into four quick parts that we will talk through together.

The first thing David Prays is “Search my Heart” He says it in verse 23, “Search me, God, and know my heart.” David is not saying to search his physical heart, but rather that internal moral heart the heart of your soul. And we can think that’s a weird thing to pray for, God already knows my heart, I have a good heart, it’s other people God needs to search. I have a good heart right? Actually, we need to understand that without Jesus, we do not have a good heart. We are by nature actually wicked. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things.” Our hearts without Jesus naturally leans towards sin, not away from sin. Come one how many of you have lied? Raise your hands? Yup, and if you didn’t raise a hand, well, you sir or madam are a LIAR! The most common person we lie to is ourselves. This is the last time I am going to watch this and its done…I am going to stop cursing I am tired of it…I am not full of pride…I don’t lust I just appreciate a good looking woman or a muscular man…

You know what happens when you begin to pray this prayer, God begins to reveal things inside of you that he wants to get out of you. But you have to lower your internal defense system and let God begin to work in you. God search my heart… Maybe he will convict you because what your doing is being fake. You wear different personalities depending on who you are around, you’re faking the Christian lifestyle, or you live for the approval of others doing things you know you shouldn’t so others will like you. When you pray this prayer God will show you areas in your life that are not pure. Not to be cruel or mean or to beat you down, but yo bring you into a deeper relationship with himself and to make you look more like Jesus. It is a dangerous prayer but one that can make you so much closer to Jesus.

David prayed, “Search me, God, and know my heart. Test me, and know my anxious thoughts.” Basically he is saying, God, “Reveal my fears.” A lot of the time we give no mind to asking God about our fears because we assume that everyone has fears, everyone worries about something, everyone is afraid. But let me ask you…what makes you afraid? Not clowns, or spiders that make you jump. My wife every time she goes into our bathroom even if she brushes her teeth always has to check behind the curtain in our shower just incase there is a stranger hiding in the shower. He’s never been there, but she checks every time.

But what inside of you makes you afraid? What makes you anxious? The obvious one that is in front of us is getting COVID, or someone you love getting COVID. Are you afraid of not getting into your dream college? Afraid of never being accepted? Never being good enough? That you mom or dad may get a divorce? Are you afraid that if people knew the real you they wouldn’t want to be around you?

Why pray this dangerous prayer, God reveal my fears? I would say it is because what we fear the most reveals where we trust God the least. Think about it. What we fear the most reveals where we trust God the least. If you are scared to death of getting COVID you are not trusting God to be your healer. Take all the percussion that you see fit, don’t be reckless, but at the same time, trust God. If you are afraid of what others think of you, you don’t trust that God has created you exactly as he intended.

I prayed this prayer, “search me, know my hear and reveal my anxious thoughts.” I prayed this prayed, and God reveled to me that I fear of not being in control. I want to control everything around me, not because I’m possessive, but because when I am in control, I know what to do, I know my next steps. But if I don’t control situations at work, or home or in this life I feel like my life is out of order I don’t know what to do. God showed me that I don’t trust him being in control of my life. He showed me that I have to love his plan for my life over my plan for my life. It isn’t easy, it will always be a struggle but that’s one area that I am fearful and anxious that God revealed to me.

When you pray this prayer, you begin to come face to face with your fears, and begin to release them to your heavenly father, and as you begin to trust him more, you will grow in ways you never through possible. It’s a dangerous prayer. Reveal my fears.

Then number three, search my heart, reveal my fears and this one right here is the most difficult and most dangerous prayer as you as God to search your hear. Uncover my sins. This is what David prays, “God, see if there is any offensive way in me.” Basically show me anything in my life that is not consistent with your truth. Show me anything that is displeasing to you. See if there is any offensive way in me. Why pray this prayer? Because it is really hard seeing your own sin in the mirror. Oh we know when someone else is a sinner, how dare she say that, I cant believe he’s sleeping around, all she does is gossip, gossip, gossip, I never gossip about anyone but that’s what she does and did you hear about Chris, he got caught smoking pot, I would never....

The heart is the most deceitful of all things. The most common lies we tell is to ourselves. That’s why it is such a dangerous pray to ask God to uncover your sins because you can lie to yourself, God will never lie to you.  I want to give you three real quick questions that are helpful as you are praying, “Uncover my sins” The first question: What are others trying to tell me? In other words if you have ever had someone who loves you a mom, dad, coach, friend, mentor, and they say to you “I think you have a problem with…” If there are people who love you and consistently tell you that you might have an issue. Pay close attention to that. There is a common denominator and it is you. God is using those around you to uncover sin.

The second question is: What have I rationalized for some time? In other words, “yeah this may not be right but it’s not a big deal, this is what everyone does, I have needs, I have wants, if God really knew my struggle he would understand. I’m not hurting anyone, it’s the one thing I do for me. What do you rationalize? What do you explain away, if you have to rationalize to do it, odd are it is not good for you and it is a sin.

Third Question: Where am I most defensive? Oh this is a big one. Where am I most defensive. When it gets brought up that you have an anger issue, “oh no we are not going there no way not gunna happen.” When a friend wants to talk about your relationship with a boyfriend or girlfriend. “Your just jealous because you don’t have one.” When you get defensive about it, start asking why, odds are you know deep down, it is a sin and it is not good for you.

When you have the boldness to pray these prayers “See if there is any offensive way in me…uncover my sins” let me make you a promise. God will point some things out that you have been trying to explain away or ignore for a long time. Do not deny the truth. Denying the truth does not make truth false. Submit yourself to what God is trying to show you, and then what do we do, is we have the boldness to bring it to the light. We confess to God for forgiveness, and we confess to other people for healing.

This is why your life group is so important. It is crucial that we don’t stay in rows and listen to a message but that we get into our groups, our circles our tribes and we do life together. You can ask for accountability, prayer, and help. There are no perfect people so as we confess our sins we can realize we are all messed up sinful people who are being repaired by God every day.

These prayers, search me, reveal my fears, uncover my sins point back to the fact that we need Jesus. Only Jesus can begin to change us from the inside out. That’s why this prayer is so dangerous, because it requires you to come face to face with you and Jesus, and challenges us to change so that we may look more like Jesus.

My prayer this week students is that you would begin to pray this dangerous prayer: Jesus, Search my Heart, Reveal my fears, Uncover my sins. Give me the boldness to face myself and the courage to change.

Prayer time.