Pour out your hearts
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Can I just welcome you here this morning? My name is Pastor Mark and we are glad you have joined us here at Legacy Bible Church.
If you are a guest this morning we want to welcome you. There are cards for you to fill out that will help us to be able to reach out to you. There are some at the table that you come in and there are some in the fellowship area on the table that has everything going on.
We are in week 3 of our Come to Worship Series.
And the theme that has been the constant in this series is the idea that when we are in Christ we are all worshipers. Being a follower of Jesus means being a worshiper.
Week one, we talked about worshiping God by the lifting of hands, raising our hands to God in surrender and in victory, remember that? And what a powerful week that was. Worshiping God with our bodies.
Last week we talked about bringing our gifts, where giving, tithing, honoring God with our money was another way to worship that Christians are called to, commanded to do. We talked about the wise men who gave gifts to the Christ child and said that giving is an act of worshiping God, trusting God, even loving God.
Remember, we said Love equals giving.
This week we are going to talk about worshiping God in a different way. This week we are going to talk about Pouring out our hearts to God. Pouring out our hearts.
And for this aspect of worship we get down to what is very real, you really can’t fake it. You can’t just go through the motions when you pour your heart to God. It is very intimate.
You see on one hand, you can fake worship. It’s actually easy to fake the kinds of worship that we have been talking about.
You can write a check and give regardless of whether your heart is involved or not, you can be guilted into giving, you can be tricked into giving.
The thing is that it’s easy to fake worship. If we are going to be honest it is easy to raise you
You can physically raise your hands and not really have your heart involved.
Unless your heart, your heart of hearts is involved, or unless you have a true desire to worship, those things don’t have to be intimate.
If you have a true desire to worship then it is authentic.
This week we are talking about pouring out your heart to God and you really can’t fake that. You really can’t\
Worship is based on a relationship and you can’t have a real close relationship unless you can pour out your heart.
And this is just a principle of life; Whether it is with a spouse, or any earthly relationship, if you can’t share your heart you can’t be that close. Or I could say that you can only be as close to God as you are willing to give your heart.
If we want to look at biblical examples of pouring out your heart you don’t have to look any further than David in the Psalms.
Let me read for you
One of the lowest points of Davids life. He was being hunted down and was hiding in a cave.
With my voice I cry out to the Lord;
with my voice I plead for mercy to the Lord.
I pour out my complaint before him;
I tell my trouble before him.
When my spirit faints within me,
you know my way!
In the path where I walk
they have hidden a trap for me.
Look to the right and see:
there is none who takes notice of me;
no refuge remains to me;
no one cares for my soul.
I cry to you, O Lord;
I say, “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”
Notice what David says in verse 2, he says,
A Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer.
With my voice I cry out to the Lord;
with my voice I plead for mercy to the Lord.
I pour out my complaint before him;
I tell my trouble before him.
When my spirit faints within me,
you know my way!
In the path where I walk
they have hidden a trap for me.
Look to the right and see:
there is none who takes notice of me;
no refuge remains to me;
no one cares for my soul.
I cry to you, O Lord;
I say, “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”
Attend to my cry,
for I am brought very low!
Deliver me from my persecutors,
for they are too strong for me!
Bring me out of prison,
that I may give thanks to your name!
The righteous will surround me,
for you will deal bountifully with me.
“I pour out my complaint”
David is down, he is low, he is at the bottom and doesn’t say, “God you are so good, God you are so wonderful, and mighty”
He says, God I have a complaint! This is how I feel God. He is saying “God, I have an issue.”
His complaint isn’t God, or something God did. He is just hurting and he is sharing his heart with the closest friend he has, his God.
So he cries out to God. And look what happens in verse 5
I cry to you, O Lord;
I say, “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”
He says, God is my refuge.
David uses this same phrase in
Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah
Psalm 6
If you look at that word refuge and see where else it is used in scripture you might find some verses in the book of the law, the first 5 books of the old testament that there were cities that God commanded to be cities of refuge.
As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away;
as wax melts before fire,
so the wicked shall perish before God!
If someone killed someone accidentally, they would be able to find safety in one of these 6 cities of refuge. Not blatant murderers, but people who accidentally killed someone else would be protected by the law in one of these cities.
It would be for them a safe place. David is referring to God as his refuge, God as his safe place.
As a kid, did you ever had a safe place? You know, that place where you feel safe, that place where no harm can come to you.
For some people they felt safe in their parents room. At my house, when the kids were little and a loud boom of thunder happened, or when the lights would go out, you would hear the little feet running down the hall into our bedroom where three kids would dive into bed.
It was safe with mom and dad.
Sometimes its a person where if mom and dad are in the room the monsters can’t get to you. The monster wont be in there if your mom or dad are in there.
I used to be scared of the dark as a kid. I didn’t want to be in a dark room. I remember leaving the light on and my parents coming in to turn it off and I would complain and turn it back on because I was scared of the dark… as a kid.
Unless, there was someone in there with me. Didn’t matter who, as long as someone is in there with me I am okay.
We need to have a safe place.
And this is why we cry out to God, and we look for God to be our refuge. He is our safe place, he is our refuge so we need to talk to Him, we need to pour out hearts out to Him.
Today, we are going to have the opportunity to pour out our hearts to God. To really get in there and give it to Him.
Now, you don’t need to worry. You can be honest with God. He can take it. He knows what you are thinking anyway so you might as well acknowledge it and bring it before Him. He can take it.
Actually, He desires it since this is how you actually get close to Him; by being honest and upfront. It is intimacy with God.
So we are going to practice pouring out our heart to God and I want you to keep a couple of things in mind as we do this. Because this can help you when it comes to pouring your heart out to God.
As you pour out your heart to God, I want to encourage you to remember God’s faithfulness in the past.
1. Remember God’s faithfulness in the past. ( 4)
Pour out your heart and remember what God has done for you in the past. It is a great exercise and will help you as your pour out your heart to Him.
is a song written, most scholars believe it was written by David when his son Absalon rebelled and all the people were saying to David, “where is your God now?. Why has God rejected you? If all of this is happening to you, why wouldn’t God keep it from happening?
David is down. Look what he writes in verse 3
My tears have been my food
day and night,
while they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?”
My tears have been my food. What a vivid picture of what David is dealing with here. Have you ever been there? Ever cry yourself to sleep? Ever need to get out of the room because of tears? Because of pain? It’s a lonely place, it’s a hurting place.
David talks to God about it.
But then look what he writes in verse 4.
These things I remember,
as I pour out my soul:
how I would go with the throng
and lead them in procession to the house of God
with glad shouts and songs of praise,
a multitude keeping festival.
4
These things I remember. David begins to recall times when he went to the house of the Lord under the protection of the Lord, worshiping the Lord through the festival.
Then watch how the attitude changes. Listen to what he says.
It’s a
He starts preaching to himself.
Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation
It’s like something changed in the middle of this prayer,
It’s like something changed in the middle of this prayer,
David pours out his heart; he is honest and upfront with God. Even says how he feels negatively.
But then, in the middle of it, it is like God jumps in and heals his spirit. It’s like God changes his heart.
Have you ever prayed for God to change your heart? We think we need to change our heart but then go to God but it is exactly the opposite, exactly the opposite.
Go to God with your terrible bad, negative sinful attitude. Pour your heart out to him, really do it and then begin to remember what God has done for you in the past.
Pour out your heart to God. Pour it out in the situation of your marriage, where nothing seems to be going right, pour your hearts out to God.
Pour it out for that child of yours that you ache for because they are not walking in a way that is pleasing to God.
Pour it out for your finances where you just don’t see how you’re going to make it. Pour your heart out to God.
And then...
Go back in your mind to how God has proven himself to you in the past. Go back in your mind to the times when God has proven Himself to you.
Remember that very first time you had that experience of God lifting all the weight of sin off of you when you first surrendered your life to Him.
Remember the joy in your heart? Remember the tears of relief and the feeling of love that went to the depths of your soul?
Remember when God answered a prayer for you that would have only been because of God himself? An impossible situation that just worked out?
Remember a time when you were hurting and you heard a sermon or you read a a verse that jumped out at you and encouraged you exactly the way you needed encouraging?
I have had quite a few times people come up to me after the sermon and remark that this is exactly what they needed to hear and it had nothing to do with me, or something I did, it was what God was doing to help you!
There are times that I get discouraged. And I pour out my heart to God and all of a sudden I will remember how God has taken care of me in the past.
I will remember the miraculous ways God has moved and has given us what we have needed. Exactly what we needed. He is faithful! Remember the ways God has helped you in the past.
I remember when we were trying to make a decision about coming to this church and prayed and prayed and prayed about whether or not this is the place God wanted us to be and Rachel and I both prayed, God if this isn’t what You want for us we want you to protect us and shut the door.
When we looked at the finances, and we looked at what was coming in there was no way that it was gonna work.
I honestly thought that I don’t know if this is gonna last 3 months.
But God did miraculous things.
I go back to these things and remember them when we get discouraged. I remember meeting Sharon and Greg at church and they said they were looking at churches in the area and I thought, “what a nice couple” I will probably never see them again. But they came back and being able to minister to them during Greg’s sickness was such a privilege to me.
My favorite story about Greg was that they were looking for churches in the area and Greg wasn’t able to see because of the radiation treatment he had. He couldn’t read. They passed by the school and greg said, “theres a church right there. Sharon said that no it wasn’t, it was a school and Greg said that there was a sign there that said it was a church and Greg couldn’t read.
Isn’t God good?
Pour out your heart to God and remember what he has done for you in the past. It will encourage you. Remember his faithfulness.
Many times for us and for our family we notice that God is doing things when we don’t even realize it. He is always working and He takes care of us even before we know we need it.
Pouring out our hearts. Remembering the past
and also
2. Trusting in His power for the future
Believing that the same God who took care of us in the past will take care of us in the future.
A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord.
Hear my prayer, O Lord;
let my cry come to you!
Do not hide your face from me
in the day of my distress!
Incline your ear to me;
answer me speedily in the day when I call!
For my days pass away like smoke,
and my bones burn like a furnace.
My heart is struck down like grass and has withered;
I forget to eat my bread.
Because of my loud groaning
my bones cling to my flesh.
I am like a desert owl of the wilderness,
like an owl of the waste places;
I lie awake;
I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.
All the day my enemies taunt me;
those who deride me use my name for a curse.
For I eat ashes like bread
and mingle tears with my drink,
because of your indignation and anger;
for you have taken me up and thrown me down.
My days are like an evening shadow;
I wither away like grass.
But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever;
you are remembered throughout all generations.
You will arise and have pity on Zion;
it is the time to favor her;
the appointed time has come.
For your servants hold her stones dear
and have pity on her dust.
Nations will fear the name of the Lord,
and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
For the Lord builds up Zion;
he appears in his glory;
he regards the prayer of the destitute
and does not despise their prayer.
Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord:
that he looked down from his holy height;
from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,
to hear the groans of the prisoners,
to set free those who were doomed to die,
that they may declare in Zion the name of the Lord,
and in Jerusalem his praise,
when peoples gather together,
and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.
He has broken my strength in midcourse;
he has shortened my days.
“O my God,” I say, “take me not away
in the midst of my days—
you whose years endure
throughout all generations!”
Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you will remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
but you are the same, and your years have no end.
The children of your servants shall dwell secure;
their offspring shall be established before you.
Listen to the Psalmist in 102
He talks to God, he says, “do not hide your face from me”
He says answer me quickly. I forget to eat. I am skin and bones.
Verse 7 he says “I lie awake, I can’t sleep” I am all alone, my enemies taunt me.
He is severely down, he is hurting. I know that this is where some of you are living right now. Right now.
You identify with what David is saying here. You know what it means to have tears be your food. You know what it is to lie awake at night and not be able to sleep. You are desperately tired but you still can’t sleep.
You read something like this and say, I identify with that.
Again, this is David pouring out his heart to his God. To the only one he can confide in. He tells God all the ugly stuff that’s going on and its not disrespectful. You aren’t surprising God with all your cares and all your concerns.
He knows you and still loves you. He wants to hear you pour out your heart to Him. He wants to hear your troubles.
But listen. When you begin to pour out your heart to Him there comes a time when that pouring out will turn to praise.
That deep seated stuff and junk that is in you it all comes out and gets replaced with praise. You begin to praise God for the future that He has for you.
Believing that God has something for you. Saying, God, you are still on the throne, God you are still number one. You God, you know me, you love me and you have a plan for me.
It happens. You pour out the things that bother you, you keep doing that and then all of a sudden praise happens.
Here’s a great exercise, Praise God for the things that haven’t happened yet. Praise him even before it happens.
That is the ultimate in faith isn’t it? Knowing God so well that
you can praise Him before that thing he has for you comes to fruition.
You suddenly find a way to worship. Not because everything is alright. Not because it feels good, but because you remember that God is so good. You praise Him in the middle of it, expecting Him to be faithful.
I will repeat something from the beginning of all of this. Our worship comes out of a relationship. A relationship with God. Not just us visiting God but having God living within us through His Holy Spirit.
And God wants you to pour out your hearts to Him. He wants the depths of your soul laid bare because it is in that place where he can do the most work.
Let’s pray.
God you are so good. And I want to pray for my church family here today. And I want you to do a mighty work in them. Lord, I know this comes from worship. I know it comes from us bearing our souls to you.
I want to take a moment where all of our heads are bowed and all of your eyes are closed to pray for those who are really hurting this time of year.
If your cry to God is from a place of pain, questions, confusion, anxiety, disappointment, anger, fear whatever it is you are dealing with I want to pray that you will be able to push through the pain as you pour out your heart to God. To see His faithfulness.
That He would do whatever to takes to put you in a place where you can completley trust Him.
If you are hurting this way please raise your hand so I can pray for you this morning.
God I thank you for those who were bold enough to raise their hands and who are hurting and I pray God that you would move in their lives. God, you know all the details of what they are going through. Help them Lord.
Through the power of your Holy Spirit I pray that you help them. Give them a peace that can only come from you. Peace in their hearts God. Peace in the depths of their souls! A peace that goes beyond our understanding.
Lord, I hurt for them but You, oh Lord hurt for them more, like a parent hurts for a child, God, you hurt fo us. Give us today the freedom Lord, to cry out to you. Hear our prayer God.
Help us to know Lord that you are sovereign, that you long for us to need you. Lord, move mountains in the lives of your children. Do mighty works Lord
Lord your ways are higher than our ways, your thoughts are higher than our thoughts. Let us trust you in our circumstances and our troubles God. Lord we trust you even when things are difficult.
God for some here today, maybe they are realizing for the first time that they need you. That they have never truly given their lives to you.
God we pray that you would heal the sick, that you would heal the broken hearted.
Dear Lord help those who don’t know you to trust you. Maybe they have been in church all their lives but never really put all of their faith in you as the only way to salvation.
That they can know that Jesus came as your son and lived a perfect life and died to pay for our sins and displayed his power by being raised from the dead. Give them that gift they seek God.
Lord for all of us here. Let us recognize it is time to pour out our hearts to you. We need you God.
Let us sing our last song, and listen, you don’t need to sing, I want you to pour out your heart to God this morning. If you feel a little emotional and you need some space you can move wherever you want to for this last song. The back, the sides, up front, I don’t care. I am going to stand over here, if you want prayer, you can come to me. If you want to come up and pour out your heart to God I will leave you alone.
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God, as we do so, help
us to do it from a posture of worship, knowing
that You are good and a sovereign God and You long to be needed by
Your children. God, we just acknowledge we need You now. I pray God,
that You would move mountains. That You would heal the sick. That God,
Yo
u would restore the broken. God, that You would do miracles in our
lives and whether You do what we want or God, if You wanted something
different, we choose to trust in You acknowledging Your goodness, God.
We thank You in advance for whatever You do be
cause God, we know
that Your ways are higher than our ways. Your thoughts are higher than
our thoughts and Your ways are better than any life we could imagine for
ourselves. We chose to trust in You.
As you keep praying today at all of our different churc
hes, there are some
of you, you're going to recognize that you do not have a personal
relationship with God. I'm not talking about being a religious person. Not
talking about doing good things or not doing bad things. I'm talking about
knowing God personal
ly. This is why God sent His Son, Jesus.
Jesus was God in the flesh, born without sin. He lived a very perfect life,
died on a cross and rose again from the dead so that anyone who calls on
His name would be forgiven, transformed, but not just be forgive
n. We
could be filled with the Spirit of God so that we could know God
personally.
The reality is there are some of you here, you recognize this is not you.
You don't know Him personally. You could be like me. I was raised in a
church. I knew about Him, b
ut I did not know Him. In all of our churches,
there are some of you, you recognize it's time to pour out my heart and
simply say I need You. Forgive me. I trust You. I want You in my life. I
surrender my life to You.
At all of our churches, those of you
who say yes, I need His forgiveness
and I need His grace, today by faith I simply give my life to Him, asking
Jesus to save me and be the Lord of my life. That's the cry of your heart in
all of our churches. I need Him. Today I give my life to God. If that
's your
prayer lift your hands high right now.
All of our churches say yes, that's my prayer. Lift your hands. Church
online, you click right below me. There are people at all of our churches
surrendering to the Lordship of Christ. I simply ask that you
all join your
voices aloud. Pray with one another and let us see gO
But pour your heart out to Him and today can be the start of something amazing in your life, in your eternity!
So he pours out his complain, he pours out his heart and then look what happens.