CtW - wk 4 - Pour Out Your Heart
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Today we are going to finish up the “Come to Worship” series. This series was inspired by the wise men who traveled to worship the new born king who would rescue all nations, Jesus. They traveled very far simply to worship. They brought gifts and didn’t ask for anything in return. Throughout this series we have been examining different postures of worship. We talked about raising our hands, bringing our gifts, and bowing our knees.
This week we will wrap the series up by looking at a posture that we may not normally think of as a posture of worship. Today we are going to look at “Pouring out our hearts.” We aren’t going to just worship with our actions or even our mind, we are going to worship from the depths of our soul.
Maybe you have been growing closer to God lately and you feel like pouring out your heart to Him and praise Him for how good He is.
Perhaps you have been dealing with some tough news and you just need to pour out your heart and tell God about the pain you have been suffering.
Maybe during the Christmas holiday some of you were able to spend time with your family and you want to pour out your heart to God and thank Him for all of the wonderful blessings in your life.
Or you spent too much time with your family and when everyone finally left you wanted to thank Him for giving you peace and quiet again.
Maybe you’ve been dealing with a sinus and ear infection and you want to pour out your complaints and tell Him all about your troubles in a strongly worded letter!
As we kick off a new year, my hope and prayer is that we would approach this year with hearts full of worship, and no matter what we are facing we would come to Jesus to worship with honesty and openness.
It is such an amazing thing to me that we can approach God with anything and so comforting to know that He cares about our struggles. How many times have you prayed and thanked God for the blessing of your family who you love and care about, then in the same prayer complain about them? In the OT, David was no stranger to sharing his complaints with God. At one of the low points in David’s life when he was running from Saul he hid in a cave and poured out his heart to God...
2 I pour out my complaints before him and tell him all my troubles.
The word translated to complaints also means verbal lamenting or sad musing. In other words, David is dumping all of his depression on God. He is whining and telling God all of his sad thoughts. He tells God all of his troubles, then he says...
5 I cry to you, O Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”
He pours out his heart, he cries out to God, then he says something very special about God. “You are my refuge.” He says something very similar in Psalm 68 when he tells others to pour out their hearts to God...
8 O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge. Interlude
Pour out your hearts to God, He is our refuge. Cry out to God as an act of worship. God loves when we turn to Him and realize that we need Him. He loves to be needed. No matter what you need to pour out to God, I promise you that He can handle it. What I want to do today is give you a couple of things to think about when you cry out to God in worship.
AS YOU POUR OUT YOUR HEART
REMEMBER GOD’S FAITHFULNESS IN THE PAST.
Have you ever experienced a blessing that you never thought would come? You waited and waited for something important for what felt like an eternity before you finally got the good news. maybe what you went through along the way was horrible. It was so bad that you found yourself just praying for a way out of the pain and suffering. Praying for relief from the stress. But now you can look back and see how things have changed and how faithful God was to you. You can even look back and find all the small ways God was being faithful in that time even though you felt abandoned during the tough time.
We don’t know for sure who wrote Psalm 42, but most scholars believe it was probably David whenever Absalom, his son, had rebelled against him and a lot of people believed that God had turned against him. If this was written by David, he was at a very low point in his life and in verse 3 he says this...
3 Day and night I have only tears for food, while my enemies continually taunt me, saying, “Where is this God of yours?”
I have tears for breakfast, there’s a tear in my beer, and I cry myself to sleep. If you’ve been there, you know how physically, emotionally, and spiritually draining times like this can be. Then he continues, “As I cry out to You, I remember Your faithfulness in the past”…
4 These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng. 5 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
“These things I remember as I pour out my soul.” As you pour out your soul, what are some things you can remember about God? One of the things I have been pouring out my soul about is my schedule. My brother is the type of person who gets energy from having a long To-Do list, but I am exactly the opposite. I don’t stress easy, but if I don’t have a clean To-Do list that is easy to clear off frequently I tend to get stressed. For some reason the last 4 to 6 months have been so busy that I feel like I have been going from one thing to another. It doesn’t help that since September I have spent more time sick than well.
That being said, our friends from OKC happened to move down here during that time. I am very excited about them moving, but at the same time the part of me that can’t handle scheduling chaos started going a little crazy. One day we were driving to work and Chris, my friend, asked me how we became such good friends. So I started REMEMBERING God’s faithfulness in the past. We met while serving together at LifeChurch in OKC. I got relive that experience in my life when God was doing so many amazing things.
That also happened to be another time in my life that was chaotic. Remembering God’s faithfulness in that time encouraged and empowered me with my new chaotic schedule. Why am I letting this get to me? Why am I so downcast? Put your hope in God! Remember how good He is. He’s always been there for you.
After the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah retired to a cavern outside of the Damascus gate where he wrote the book of Lamentations. If anyone had something to cry out about, it was him. For 20 verses in chapter 3 he just goes on and on pouring out his heart to God. He lays out the pain and anguish he has felt as a result of God’s anger.
Sometimes we are afraid to talk to God the way Jeremiah does here. We feel like it is disrespectful to God. Look, if you already feel this way, saying it out loud to God doesn’t somehow make it worse. God already knows your heart. He loves to be needed. I believe God would rather us be open and honest with Him than lie to avoid offending Him.
Jeremiah is complaining about all these awful things God did, but watch as he shifts when he remembers God’s faithfulness...
19 The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words. 20 I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. 21 Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this:
I remember God’s faithfulness, therefore I have hope! Even though this moment is awful beyond my ability to describe, I have hope when I remember this...
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
As you pour out your heart to God remember His faithfulness. Remember that His love is never ending. Remember how forgiving He is. Remember what He has already done for you in the past. Second...
AS YOU POUR OUT YOUR HEART
TRUST IN GOD’S POWER FOR YOUR FUTURE.
The Psalmist who wrote Psalm 102 poured out his heart to God. He was overwhelmed with trouble, but he poured out his heart and trusted in God’s power for his future...
1 Lord, hear my prayer! Listen to my plea! 2 Don’t turn away from me in my time of distress. Bend down to listen, and answer me quickly when I call to you.
5 Because of my groaning, I am reduced to skin and bones.
7 I lie awake, lonely as a solitary bird on the roof. 8 My enemies taunt me day after day. They mock and curse me.
The Psalmist is pouring out their heart to God. Hear my prayer, God. I need you now more than ever! This difficult time is wearing me out. I feel alone and helpless and don’t know how much more I can take. But we are about to see how 3 words can change everything. We may be facing the most difficult moment in our lives, but these 3 words alone may be the only reason God wanted you to be here today.
“But you, LORD”… My life is falling apart, but you LORD. I don’t understand, but you, God, are faithful. I don’t have the ability, but you, God, can. I don’t have the strength, but you, God, are strong. I can’t fix this, but you, God, can change anything. My enemies mock me…
12 But you, Lord, sit enthroned forever; your renown endures through all generations.
17 He will listen to the prayers of the destitute. He will not reject their pleas.
I need Your power. You hear my prayers and care for me. Everyone else may abandon me, but I know that You will never abandon me. No matter where we are in life, we should always trust God with our future. Things may not look that good today and they may not get any better tomorrow, but the future God has planned for me is so much bigger than my problems right now. Today is just a drop in the bucket compared to eternity with the Father.
This has been a tough couple of years. We are constantly bombarded with fear messages. People are trying to sow confusion and division throughout every aspect of our lives. We have seen many people we know and care about facing serious illness and death. Even the weather feels like it is working against us lately. Everything is just falling apart, “But you, God” will never leave me. Your love never fails.
Even though it may seem impossible, sometimes we just need to push through the pain to the place of praise. Push through the pain… the hurt… the confusion… the fear… the anger, to the place of praise.
Pour out your heart, but remember that God has always been faithful in the past. He is good in the present. Therefore you can trust Him with your future.
AS YOU POUR OUT YOUR HEART
MAKE YOUR CRY AN OFFERING TO GOD
What does it mean to you to pour out your heart in worship to God? I think that is a great question to ask ourselves as we strike up the new year. How can you worship God this year by pouring out your heart to Him? How can I make my cry an offering to Him?
I’ll tell you what it means to me and how I plan to worship God this year by pouring out my heart to Him. For the last few years I have been setting personal goals at the beginning of the year. These aren’t “New Year’s Resolutions” or anything like that, they are just goals that I attempt to accomplish to build new positive habits in my life. They aren’t major changes and I am by no means a master of any of them, but these small changes have made a huge impact on my life.
They are “one word” goals that I try to develop in my daily life. A few years ago my word was “discipline”. I still struggle with that one, but before I had zero discipline. Amy has been lucky enough to take part in some of these “one word” goals. Last year my word was “Pray” and the focus was Amy and my prayer life together. This year the word God put on my heart is “Journal”.
What that means to me is that every day I will write something down. Some days it might just be a prayer. It might be a goal. It might be an evaluation of a completed goal. It might be some thoughts on scripture I am reading. But every day I will sit down and focus enough to pour out my heart about that day to God.
The reason I plan to do this is because I have noticed something about all of the “one word” goals I have set: As the new habit gets tough I start wondering why I am even bothering, but then I begin to remember God’s faithfulness or why He lead me to that goal and I trust Him for the future. Just like what we talked about today.
In the middle of all of these new habits everything becomes formulaic and procedural, but it is the moments where I pour out my heart to God that the goals have the most meaning. It is also those moments that get the least attention.
For you it may mean something completely different. Maybe to you it means singing to God from the bottom of your heart. Maybe praying with complete honesty and openness. Maybe loving and serving others and sharing God’s love with them. Telling other people what God has done in your own life. Whatever it is, I pray you would make your cry to God a sincere offering to Him.
Here are a few verses to inspire you. Like Jeremiah, your heart may break for those in need and you want to cry out to God about it...
19 Rise during the night and cry out. Pour out your hearts like water to the Lord. Lift up your hands to him in prayer, pleading for your children, for in every street they are faint with hunger.
Maybe you are more like Paul and you love our Father so much that your deepest desire is for others to share in that love and joy that you have experienced...
17 But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God, just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy.
Perhaps you are thankful for God’s faithfulness in your life and you want to pour out your heart to His as you remember the past. Or maybe you know you need His power to be there for you in the future and you are patiently hoping and waiting for His presence to bring you peace and joy…
5 Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. 6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.
Let’s start this year off strong by worshiping Jesus and pouring out our hearts to God. I want to leave you with one more verse of encouragement. No matter what your heart is pouring out to God, always remember that He loves you and He wants to hear your deepest worries and concerns. Whatever you need to pour out to Him, He can handle it and He wants to hear it...
7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
Let’s pray...
Father thank you for loving us. Thank you for sending your son to us. Thank you for your faithfulness to us. Thank you for being our strong rock and salvation who we can trust.