Opening the Door
Spring Cleaning • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Spring Cleaning: Opening the Door
21 days of Prayer and Fasting: Prayer talking with God. Fasting, giving something up to make more space for God.
(Starts this Monday April 13th-May 3rd)
Opener: It amazes me how fast things clutter up in my garage during a busy season of life. Summers are one of those seasons. The garage gets cluttered up with all the summer fun equipment and is not packed away into its proper place. The thinking is I will put it away later when things slow down. Then winter hits. The garage gets cluttered with all the Christmas stuff. Every day I walk by the clutter and think “I need clean that up.… one day”. That day turns into weeks, then months. The clutter starts bugging me until I have that old school Popeye moment.
“That's all I can stands, cause I can't stands no more.”― Popeye the Sailor Man
Neuroscientists at Princeton University found that the presence of clutter restricts your ability to focus. Multiple visual stimuli compete for your neural representation. In simpler terms, every object in your peripheral vision is "tugging" at your attention, forcing your brain to expend energy to filter it out.
Clutter creates a high "cognitive load." When you see a pile of mail, your brain doesn't just see paper; it unconsciously processes a series of tasks: “I need to pay that,” “I should shred that,” “Where is my stapler?” This constant background processing leads to mental fatigue and diminished creativity.
The "Unfinished Business" Signal: Clutter is a physical reminder of tasks not yet completed. It triggers a low-level "fight or flight" response because it signals that your environment is out of control.
Spring Cleaning: 21 days of prayer and fasting.
This series big idea: Clearing space in our lives so God can work.
Main Point: Opening the Door exposes what we’ve been hiding.
What unhealthy thing(s) or situation in your life that you have been wanting to address, get rid of, or change?
What is the first step in recovery? Admitting there is a problem and stop hiding.
Big Idea: Real change starts when we stop hiding and let God see what’s really going on in us.
(Bulletin)
23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
David’s prayer. (Slide)
23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
David voluntarily gives consent and invites God to search him by opening up his door. Do you know God does not issue a warrant to search.
Ca. Police may search your vehicle without a warrant:
Probable Cause: The officer must have objective facts (not just a "hunch") suggesting criminal activity, such as seeing stolen property or weapons in the vehicle.
Plain View: If incriminating items are clearly visible from outside the car, police can seize them and may then have probable cause for a deeper search.
Consent: If you voluntarily give the officer permission, they can search the car completely. But you have the right to politely refuse.
Most of us treat God like a cop we're trying to avoid at a DUI checkpoint—we roll the window down just a crack, give him the “church” answer, and hope He doesn't smell the reality.
But David realizes that “hiding” is a fool’s errand. If God is who we say He is - then He already has “Probable Cause.”
God’s not looking for a warrant to condemn you; He’s looking for consent to heal you.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Know: Notice, learn, reveal. My - Heart: Conscience.
Test: Metals by melting them. How do you get pure gold? By melting and pull the impurities away. So the “test” is about the refiner’s fire. It’s not a school teacher trying to flunk you; it’s a jeweler (God) trying to find the pure gold in you!
Anxious thoughts: Troubled thoughts. What is troubling you today?
23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
He asks God to search and test him so that he might see and reveal any offensive and unrighteous thoughts and intentions.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Eugene Peterson (way everlasting) refers to the "ancient paths." It is a call to return to the foundational, created order of God.
The "way everlasting" is not a new or trendy path; it is the "way of old" that has always been true. It suggests that life only works when it is aligned with the character of the Creator.
Like David, we do not fully know ourselves, either. Human beings are masters of self-deception. We have "blind spots".
The "way everlasting" cannot be found through self-help; it must be found through divine intervention. So David says Lead Me!
Are you tired of “ways” that lead to nowhere? Are you tired of the “way of anxiety,” the “way of performance,” or the “way of bitter resentment”?
David is saying, “Lord, I’m tired of the dead-end alleys of my own making”. I wants the “everlasting” path. It’s the only one that doesn't end in a cul-de-sac of regret.
But to get on that path, you have to let Him in by opening up your door. You have to let Him show you what needs to go, so that He can show you where to go.
1 You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
We live in a “surveillance” culture, right? Every move we make is tracked by an algorithm.
We’re obsessed with privacy because we know that information in the wrong hands is dangerous.
But look at David’s posture. He isn't paranoid that God is watching him; he’s comforted by it.
We see a beautiful Hebrew picture the sitting and rising. It’s what we call a “merism”—it covers everything in between! From the moment your feet hit the floor in the morning until you collapse into bed at night. Even the ordinary and mundane days.
Most of us think God only shows up for the “Big Moments” or the “Big Sins.”
But David realizes God is the ultimate witness to the entirety of his life. If God already has the “data” on your heart—if He perceives your thoughts before you even speak them—then your “hiding” is actually just a form of insanity.
Stop playing the privacy game with the One who created your soul.
2 I pour out before him my complaint; before him I tell my trouble.
Here is the tension we all feel: We think God only wants to hear our praise, but David shows us He wants to hear our complaints. Look, God doesn't want the cleaned up version of you. He wants the real and raw you.
If you’re frustrated with your marriage, your kids, or your career, tell Him. Why? Because you can’t fix what you won't face.
We think we're protecting our relationship with God by keeping the messy rooms locked. But you aren't protecting the relationship; you're preventing it.
Start talking. Open the door to the room you've been hiding and say, God, here is the mess.
He’s not shocked. He’s just waiting for the invitation.
What are you currently troubled about today? Over the next 21 days tell Him.
King Solomon: The wises man who ever lived.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
The word “trust” means “to lie helpless, facedown.” It pictures a servant waiting for the master’s command in readiness to obey, or a defeated soldier yielding himself to the conquering general.
That’s what these 21 days are all about. We’re moving from self-reliance to God-dependence.
“With all your heart” means all, without exception.
The danger, of course, is that we lean on our own understanding and thereby miss God’s will. This warning doesn’t suggest that God’s children turn off their brains and ignore their intelligence and common sense. It simply cautions us not to depend on our own wisdom and experience or the wisdom and experience of others.
The proof that we’re not trusting God—even when we say we do—is when we turn to other sources first to address life’s problems. If you want to know where your trust is, ask yourself, “Where do I turn first when I need help?”
Wk #1 Q: What do I try to fix or figure out before bringing it to God?
21 Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.
Here is the ask for this week: Are you willing to trade your plan for His purpose?
Because here’s what I’ve noticed: when our plans fail, we get angry at God. But if your plan was getting in the way of His purpose, why would He let it succeed? We think success is when our plans work out. God says success is when His purpose prevails in us.
As you open the door to your mess this week, you might find that the clutter is actually a pile of your own plans that you’ve been trying to fix. Maybe it’s time to stop trying to fix your plan and start submitting to His purpose.
One leads to frustration; the other leads to peace.
I often say - See you next Sunday - God willing.
20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
Most of us are living in a Hoarders show episode spiritually!
We’ve got stacks of “Anxiety” from last season, boxes of “Comparison” we never opened, and a whole lot of “Guilt” taking up the in our spiritual garage.
And we think, I'll clean it before God comes over.
Listen: God doesn't do house-calls for clean houses! He’s the Ultimate Renovator! He wants the fixer-upper! When you hear that knock on the door, don’t yell “Just a minute, I’m cleaning!”
Throw the door open and say, Lord, it’s a wreck in here, but You have the keys now.
Fasting is just a way of saying, God, I’m putting my appetite for stuff down so I can pick up my appetite for You.
This isn't a 21-day challenge; it's a 21-day clearance. We're clearing the junk so we can hear His voice clearly again.
