1 00:00:00,410 --> 00:00:00,718 It. 2 00:00:00,804 --> 00:00:04,558 Can you identify the quietest part of your day? 3 00:00:04,724 --> 00:00:08,842 I'm talking about that moment where you finally just kind of say, man, some peace and quiet 4 00:00:08,906 --> 00:00:10,238 has finally come. 5 00:00:10,404 --> 00:00:15,566 When you think about it, the quiet is often difficult to find and often very evasive in our 6 00:00:15,588 --> 00:00:17,242 lives, our culture. 7 00:00:17,306 --> 00:00:19,930 We live in a very loud and noisy culture. 8 00:00:20,090 --> 00:00:21,246 Our lifestyle, the. 9 00:00:21,268 --> 00:00:24,138 The way we carry ourselves, can oftentimes be noisy. 10 00:00:24,234 --> 00:00:30,582 And honestly, even as a Christian, our church gatherings can be fast paced, full, and very 11 00:00:30,636 --> 00:00:31,266 noisy. 12 00:00:31,378 --> 00:00:36,386 Everywhere we go, we are bombarded by sounds, voices, music, advertisements, notifications 13 00:00:36,418 --> 00:00:37,126 on our phone. 14 00:00:37,228 --> 00:00:41,078 If you work out, you work out with headphones on, or we listen to music or a podcast in the 15 00:00:41,084 --> 00:00:41,302 car. 16 00:00:41,356 --> 00:00:44,474 We get home, and if you're like me, you just want to turn on the tv, watch the game, 17 00:00:44,512 --> 00:00:46,122 especially if no one's around me. 18 00:00:46,256 --> 00:00:48,758 We're just so accustomed to noise. 19 00:00:48,854 --> 00:00:54,750 It's almost as if we live our lives with this humming background sound of just noise. 20 00:00:55,250 --> 00:01:01,358 So much so that some of us, even like me years ago, fall asleep to an app called white 21 00:01:01,444 --> 00:01:02,270 noise. 22 00:01:02,850 --> 00:01:04,842 And this is just the external noise. 23 00:01:04,906 --> 00:01:09,326 This is not to mention even the internal noise that goes on in our heads and our hearts, 24 00:01:09,438 --> 00:01:13,234 and which oftentimes leads us to try to use new and different noise to block out that 25 00:01:13,272 --> 00:01:13,966 noise. 26 00:01:14,158 --> 00:01:20,174 But using noise to block noise is just dealing with the symptoms and not actually getting 27 00:01:20,232 --> 00:01:21,494 at the root issue. 28 00:01:21,612 --> 00:01:25,862 And so my question for us as we begin today, is, what do you think all of this noise is 29 00:01:25,916 --> 00:01:27,826 doing to us as human beings? 30 00:01:28,018 --> 00:01:32,134 Just about two years ago, Time magazine wrote a short little article called how listening 31 00:01:32,182 --> 00:01:34,726 to silence changes our brains. 32 00:01:34,838 --> 00:01:39,946 The co authors stated, quote, across disciplines from neuroscience to psychology to 33 00:01:39,968 --> 00:01:45,406 cardiology, there is a growing consensus that noise is a serious threat to our health and 34 00:01:45,428 --> 00:01:50,362 our cognition and that science, I'm sorry, that silence is something truly vital, 35 00:01:50,426 --> 00:01:51,994 particularly to the brain. 36 00:01:52,122 --> 00:01:56,834 They go on to say noises cause stress, especially if we have little or no control over 37 00:01:56,872 --> 00:01:57,218 them. 38 00:01:57,304 --> 00:01:59,380 I love hearing that, especially as a young parent. 39 00:02:00,310 --> 00:02:03,134 They stated that, man, the noise. 40 00:02:03,182 --> 00:02:04,398 This is a Matthias Basser. 41 00:02:04,414 --> 00:02:05,870 He's a professor at university. 42 00:02:06,030 --> 00:02:11,894 Wrote that the body has this ability to excrete stress hormones like adrenaline and 43 00:02:11,932 --> 00:02:16,946 cortisol that lead to changes in the very composition of our blood and of our blood 44 00:02:16,978 --> 00:02:22,262 vessels, which actually have been shown to become stiffer after a single night of noise 45 00:02:22,326 --> 00:02:23,318 exposure. 46 00:02:23,494 --> 00:02:25,002 That's wild to think about. 47 00:02:25,136 --> 00:02:31,038 They go on to cite recent studies that have found learning to listen to silence, it's a 48 00:02:31,044 --> 00:02:34,458 great phrase, have the ability to strengthen your brain. 49 00:02:34,634 --> 00:02:35,214 They say. 50 00:02:35,252 --> 00:02:41,614 It's a simple but profound notion trying to hear in silence can demonstrably accelerate the 51 00:02:41,652 --> 00:02:43,722 growth of valuable brain cells. 52 00:02:43,866 --> 00:02:44,458 That's wild. 53 00:02:44,474 --> 00:02:47,826 That means there's a part of your brain, I think it's called the hippocampus, in which the 54 00:02:47,848 --> 00:02:52,014 longer it spends in silence actually develops more brain cells. 55 00:02:52,142 --> 00:02:58,902 They say this act of listening to quiet can in itself enrich our capacity to think and 56 00:02:58,956 --> 00:02:59,830 perceive. 57 00:03:00,170 --> 00:03:01,218 What a gift. 58 00:03:01,314 --> 00:03:07,270 In 2020, if we can become a kind of community that actually knows how to think clearly. 59 00:03:08,170 --> 00:03:13,018 Now, it's wild to me that if neuroscience, psychologists, and theology are all pointing to 60 00:03:13,024 --> 00:03:16,682 our need for silence, then we should pay attention to that. 61 00:03:16,816 --> 00:03:18,406 It poses a great threat. 62 00:03:18,518 --> 00:03:23,786 Even more so, I think maybe the greatest threat that the noise of our lives poses to us is 63 00:03:23,808 --> 00:03:26,160 that it robs us from a life with God. 64 00:03:26,690 --> 00:03:31,454 The noise of your life and my life, when you think about it, is keeping us from a life with 65 00:03:31,492 --> 00:03:36,242 God, keeping us from understanding what it's like to commune with him, to learn to listen 66 00:03:36,296 --> 00:03:37,038 to his voice. 67 00:03:37,134 --> 00:03:40,594 When was the last time you heard God speak to you? 68 00:03:40,792 --> 00:03:46,194 Maybe it's because you've been living in a very loud and noisy environment. 69 00:03:46,322 --> 00:03:49,014 Richard Foster, the great christian writer, said this. 70 00:03:49,052 --> 00:03:55,746 Our adversary, the devil, he majors in three things, noise, hurry, and crowds. 71 00:03:55,938 --> 00:04:01,698 If he can keep us involved in muchness and mininess, he will rest satisfied. 72 00:04:01,874 --> 00:04:02,934 That's wild to think about. 73 00:04:02,972 --> 00:04:07,046 Like when you think about the work of the devil in your life, is it that he wants to drown 74 00:04:07,078 --> 00:04:10,058 you out just with noise, and he'd be okay with that? 75 00:04:10,224 --> 00:04:11,722 That's something for us to consider. 76 00:04:11,856 --> 00:04:16,574 And yet it's no surprise, then, that the modern world constantly wants to move us away from 77 00:04:16,612 --> 00:04:17,482 the quiet. 78 00:04:17,626 --> 00:04:24,034 It's almost as if we are under the power of an empire of noise and distraction, dead set on 79 00:04:24,072 --> 00:04:29,314 keeping us from a kind of communion with God that is transformational to our lives, the 80 00:04:29,352 --> 00:04:34,866 kind of communion that our souls deep down inside, truly long for. 81 00:04:34,968 --> 00:04:41,094 Which is why today, as a church, we begin a new series called 40 days of prayer as a way to 82 00:04:41,132 --> 00:04:43,398 respond to what is happening to us in life. 83 00:04:43,484 --> 00:04:48,266 When you think about it, prayer is the singular spiritual practice that holds the rest of 84 00:04:48,288 --> 00:04:49,770 our spiritual life together. 85 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:52,566 Who are you without prayer? 86 00:04:52,758 --> 00:04:54,678 Who am I without prayer? 87 00:04:54,774 --> 00:04:59,718 In other words, prayer is the soil in which every other spiritual practice is planted, 88 00:04:59,814 --> 00:05:02,154 watered, and grows into life. 89 00:05:02,272 --> 00:05:08,394 And so, over the next 40 days, we will explore as a church various kinds of ways to engage 90 00:05:08,442 --> 00:05:10,218 with the practice of prayer. 91 00:05:10,394 --> 00:05:11,294 Now, 40 days. 92 00:05:11,332 --> 00:05:12,526 What's the point of that? 93 00:05:12,628 --> 00:05:17,746 If you know scripture, you know that 40 days can often be a symbolic time of both 94 00:05:17,848 --> 00:05:20,370 preparation and transformation for people. 95 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:26,034 Moses went onto the mountain for 40 days to be face to face with Yahweh and receive the ten 96 00:05:26,072 --> 00:05:26,958 Commandments. 97 00:05:27,134 --> 00:05:32,066 Elijah, in the darkest moment of his life, when he was ready to die, had 40 days and nights 98 00:05:32,098 --> 00:05:34,630 in a cave on a mountaintop with God. 99 00:05:34,780 --> 00:05:38,118 Jesus himself, as we know in the beginning of the Gospel, spent 40 days and nights in the 100 00:05:38,124 --> 00:05:40,054 wilderness praying to God. 101 00:05:40,092 --> 00:05:46,106 And what's amazing is that all of those men went into the 40 days as somebody, and then 102 00:05:46,128 --> 00:05:47,834 they came out as a different person. 103 00:05:48,032 --> 00:05:50,246 And that is our hope and prayer is that sandals church. 104 00:05:50,278 --> 00:05:54,678 We as a community would go into this series, 40 days of prayer, and who comes out of it is 105 00:05:54,704 --> 00:05:58,734 radically different and ready to live a life that God has called us to. 106 00:05:58,772 --> 00:05:59,598 Now, 40. 107 00:05:59,684 --> 00:06:02,400 I think if you were to say, why such a long period of time? 108 00:06:02,930 --> 00:06:08,146 If we're being honest, I think 40 is a healthy number that helps us understand. 109 00:06:08,248 --> 00:06:14,626 It often can take your mind and body a long time to slow down, which is why often, after a 110 00:06:14,648 --> 00:06:17,620 five, seven day, ten day vacation, you're not okay. 111 00:06:19,030 --> 00:06:20,398 It wasn't enough time. 112 00:06:20,504 --> 00:06:24,678 You see external noise, the noise that's outside of us, like our phones, our tvs, those are 113 00:06:24,684 --> 00:06:26,230 easy to turn off, kind of. 114 00:06:26,300 --> 00:06:32,346 You can get away from those things, but the internal noise, that's harder to shut off. 115 00:06:32,528 --> 00:06:37,158 And oftentimes the goal of external quiet is to help create internal quiet. 116 00:06:37,174 --> 00:06:39,734 And to be honest with you, that just takes practice. 117 00:06:39,782 --> 00:06:44,618 Because if you're anything like me, the moment I actually have time to be alone, a thousand 118 00:06:44,704 --> 00:06:46,250 things hit my brain. 119 00:06:46,410 --> 00:06:50,286 Which is why to be alone and quiet is not easy for a lot of us. 120 00:06:50,388 --> 00:06:52,298 Like for some of you introverts like, this is a gift. 121 00:06:52,314 --> 00:06:53,342 This is a blessing from God. 122 00:06:53,396 --> 00:06:55,058 You can obey God in this area. 123 00:06:55,224 --> 00:07:00,670 For others of us, to be alone and in silence is a real challenge. 124 00:07:00,830 --> 00:07:06,446 But what is foundational for all of us as we begin this series is the truth that God longs 125 00:07:06,478 --> 00:07:08,390 to be with us in the quiet. 126 00:07:08,730 --> 00:07:10,422 God longs to speak to you. 127 00:07:10,476 --> 00:07:12,600 God cannot get enough of you. 128 00:07:13,370 --> 00:07:19,014 Which is why we need a particular kind of environment to attune our ears so that we might 129 00:07:19,052 --> 00:07:23,450 learn to actually hear from him, to be with him, to speak to him. 130 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:24,954 Henry Nowan said it like this. 131 00:07:24,992 --> 00:07:29,546 Without silence, it is virtually impossible to live a spiritual life. 132 00:07:29,728 --> 00:07:30,074 St. 133 00:07:30,112 --> 00:07:34,794 John of the cross, a spanish mystic, said that God's first language is silence. 134 00:07:34,922 --> 00:07:37,450 In other words, God's native tongue is silence. 135 00:07:37,530 --> 00:07:41,418 Or how about Mother Teresa said that God is the friend of silence. 136 00:07:41,514 --> 00:07:45,866 And if you were to ask me Fredo, not that I would put myself in a category with Saint 137 00:07:45,898 --> 00:07:50,002 Mother Teresa or John of the cross, but if you were to say, yo, Fredo, what was the single 138 00:07:50,056 --> 00:07:53,214 thing that you have done that has sustained your life as a Christian? 139 00:07:53,262 --> 00:07:57,518 I would tell you, hands down, at the risk of sounding overdramatic, that learning to be 140 00:07:57,544 --> 00:08:00,006 alone and quiet has saved my life. 141 00:08:00,188 --> 00:08:01,494 It really has. 142 00:08:01,692 --> 00:08:07,158 It's in this practice where I have discovered who Jesus is calling me to be, to be as a 143 00:08:07,164 --> 00:08:11,318 husband for Ashley, the kind of father I need to be for Eli and Ella, the kind of friend I 144 00:08:11,324 --> 00:08:15,606 need to be for my community who knows me best, and the kind of pastor I need to be for you 145 00:08:15,628 --> 00:08:16,102 guys. 146 00:08:16,236 --> 00:08:21,342 And so, as we begin this series, 40 days of prayer, I cannot think of better offering to 147 00:08:21,396 --> 00:08:26,830 pastor you through than the gift of learning to be alone and quiet with God. 148 00:08:26,980 --> 00:08:30,558 And so today, as we begin this series, we're going to look at a passage from the life of 149 00:08:30,564 --> 00:08:35,294 Jesus that I think offers us a beautiful way forward as to how we do this. 150 00:08:35,332 --> 00:08:37,454 And so we're going to be in Luke chapter five. 151 00:08:37,492 --> 00:08:38,766 If you have a bible, you can turn there. 152 00:08:38,788 --> 00:08:41,150 If you got the Sandals church app, you can open that up. 153 00:08:41,300 --> 00:08:45,030 I would just ask, wherever you are at with us today, that you would just pause out of 154 00:08:45,060 --> 00:08:48,246 reverence for the reading of God's word and that you would stand if you are willing and 155 00:08:48,268 --> 00:08:48,454 able. 156 00:08:48,492 --> 00:08:49,640 And we'll read together. 157 00:08:52,010 --> 00:08:54,662 Luke chapter five, starting in verse 15. 158 00:08:54,716 --> 00:09:02,202 Luke says this, yet the news about him spread, all the more so that crowds of people came 159 00:09:02,256 --> 00:09:05,610 to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 160 00:09:06,110 --> 00:09:13,246 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed, this is God's word. 161 00:09:13,268 --> 00:09:14,240 Let's pray together. 162 00:09:16,050 --> 00:09:20,446 Heavenly Father, what a gift it is for us to gather in this way together. 163 00:09:20,628 --> 00:09:25,120 And we take a moment now, God, to realize that you have gathered with us. 164 00:09:25,570 --> 00:09:28,020 And so we ask that you would now speak to us. 165 00:09:28,390 --> 00:09:32,834 And as Jesus said, you give us ears to hear, eyes to see, so that we might receive and 166 00:09:32,872 --> 00:09:36,066 become all that you desire for us in him. 167 00:09:36,168 --> 00:09:38,142 It's in his name we pray as well. 168 00:09:38,296 --> 00:09:39,074 Amen. 169 00:09:39,202 --> 00:09:39,634 Amen. 170 00:09:39,682 --> 00:09:40,870 You guys may be seated. 171 00:09:41,770 --> 00:09:42,866 Hey, Sandals church. 172 00:09:42,898 --> 00:09:46,530 Thank you so much for watching today as we start a new series with Pastor Fredo. 173 00:09:46,610 --> 00:09:49,938 Before we jump into the series, I wanted to invite you guys into some of the work that 174 00:09:49,964 --> 00:09:51,098 Sandals church is doing. 175 00:09:51,184 --> 00:09:54,970 One of the ways you can do that is by giving financially at give SC. 176 00:09:55,120 --> 00:09:57,850 Now let's start our new series with Pastor Fredo. 177 00:09:59,710 --> 00:10:05,886 Our passage that we just read reveals just another ordinary day in the life of Jesus, in 178 00:10:05,908 --> 00:10:09,562 which his day was full, very demanding. 179 00:10:09,706 --> 00:10:11,600 A lot of people were coming to him. 180 00:10:12,050 --> 00:10:13,310 This is regularly happening. 181 00:10:13,380 --> 00:10:18,446 And despite his best efforts, trying to live a low key life and not have things get too 182 00:10:18,468 --> 00:10:20,930 wild up, people are still coming to him. 183 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:22,866 They need something from him. 184 00:10:22,968 --> 00:10:27,362 You and I know what it's like to have people, over the course of our entire day, need 185 00:10:27,416 --> 00:10:28,262 something from us. 186 00:10:28,316 --> 00:10:33,638 My children, for whatever reason, right now, need a snack from me every ten minutes. 187 00:10:33,804 --> 00:10:37,734 And I'm like, lord on high, you know, you just ate right now. 188 00:10:37,932 --> 00:10:42,380 And then I think to myself, who in my family did they get this appetite from? 189 00:10:43,070 --> 00:10:48,620 And then it strikes me as me, but we know what it's like to go from one thing to the next. 190 00:10:49,070 --> 00:10:50,106 That's how we live. 191 00:10:50,208 --> 00:10:53,886 We know what it's like for our calendars to be so full that there is very little margin to 192 00:10:53,908 --> 00:10:59,582 just be with Jesus, to have enough time in a quiet space to listen to the voice of God. 193 00:10:59,716 --> 00:11:00,846 And honestly, I get it. 194 00:11:00,868 --> 00:11:01,882 We have responsibilities. 195 00:11:01,946 --> 00:11:03,050 You have responsibilities. 196 00:11:03,130 --> 00:11:07,594 All of us right now are shouldering responsibilities that are very significant. 197 00:11:07,642 --> 00:11:08,314 You have jobs. 198 00:11:08,362 --> 00:11:09,978 That comes with responsibilities. 199 00:11:10,154 --> 00:11:11,182 Many of you are in school. 200 00:11:11,236 --> 00:11:12,586 That comes with responsibilities. 201 00:11:12,698 --> 00:11:13,550 You're raising kids. 202 00:11:13,620 --> 00:11:14,350 They have needs. 203 00:11:14,420 --> 00:11:17,926 You're trying to sustain a social life, which means you've got to get up, get ready, go 204 00:11:17,948 --> 00:11:19,926 out, decide where you're going to go, what movie you're going to watch. 205 00:11:20,028 --> 00:11:23,202 Some of you are trying to cultivate a healthy marriage that has responsibility. 206 00:11:23,266 --> 00:11:25,846 Some of you are looking for a healthy marriage that also requires time. 207 00:11:25,868 --> 00:11:27,798 You got to figure out who you're going to date, where you're going to go, what you're going 208 00:11:27,804 --> 00:11:28,422 to say. 209 00:11:28,556 --> 00:11:31,058 All of life is very demanding. 210 00:11:31,154 --> 00:11:35,002 And even with all that said, please know that Jesus also know what it's like to have a very 211 00:11:35,056 --> 00:11:36,522 demanding life. 212 00:11:36,656 --> 00:11:43,402 And yet our passage says there that he often withdrew to lonely places and prayed that 213 00:11:43,456 --> 00:11:43,862 phrase. 214 00:11:43,926 --> 00:11:46,746 And I think that verse in particular is worthy of our reflection. 215 00:11:46,778 --> 00:11:51,594 And so let's just take some time to just parse out each word from that last verse. 216 00:11:51,642 --> 00:11:53,470 Let's start there with but Jesus. 217 00:11:54,130 --> 00:12:00,754 But Jesus, the son of the living God, the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, 218 00:12:00,792 --> 00:12:04,594 the one who you and I would think has just infinite ability to meet. 219 00:12:04,632 --> 00:12:12,342 Every need to talk to, every single person had to get away and be quiet with God if he 220 00:12:12,396 --> 00:12:13,320 needs it. 221 00:12:13,770 --> 00:12:18,390 How much more do you and I need to be alone and quiet? 222 00:12:19,450 --> 00:12:21,090 But Jesus next word. 223 00:12:21,180 --> 00:12:25,802 Often, in other words, Luke communicates that this was a habit and a rhythm that he 224 00:12:25,856 --> 00:12:26,374 developed. 225 00:12:26,422 --> 00:12:29,878 In fact, Luke actually uses this phrase nine different times through his gospel. 226 00:12:30,054 --> 00:12:32,662 Nine different times, I think, communicates. 227 00:12:32,726 --> 00:12:33,974 This was a practice. 228 00:12:34,022 --> 00:12:35,194 He often got away. 229 00:12:35,232 --> 00:12:39,866 He didn't wait for things to go from okay to bad to worse, which is typically our routine 230 00:12:39,898 --> 00:12:40,218 and prayer. 231 00:12:40,234 --> 00:12:40,538 Oh, shoot. 232 00:12:40,554 --> 00:12:41,514 I should probably pray. 233 00:12:41,562 --> 00:12:42,346 Things have gone to crap. 234 00:12:42,378 --> 00:12:45,362 It's time to pray, and I'm learning this in my own life. 235 00:12:45,416 --> 00:12:51,426 Like, I had no idea that maturing to a 37 year old man that elementary school math would 236 00:12:51,448 --> 00:12:56,420 have the capabilities of spiraling me out of control. 237 00:12:57,030 --> 00:13:00,934 But I am finding that on any day of the week that ends with the letter y, you will find me 238 00:13:00,972 --> 00:13:05,506 at the nook of my table trying to help my son do his math homework. 239 00:13:05,698 --> 00:13:12,154 Eli, the word problem simply says 50 football players are trying to get to their game. 240 00:13:12,272 --> 00:13:15,046 Each van holds ten players. 241 00:13:15,238 --> 00:13:16,938 How many vans, son? 242 00:13:17,104 --> 00:13:19,386 Ten here, ten here, ten here, ten here. 243 00:13:19,408 --> 00:13:20,246 Do you see it, Eli? 244 00:13:20,278 --> 00:13:22,950 Like, I'm losing my mind doing math. 245 00:13:23,030 --> 00:13:26,190 And then I'm thinking to myself, oh, now it's time to pray. 246 00:13:26,610 --> 00:13:29,742 But it's like I haven't created a habit of often getting away. 247 00:13:29,796 --> 00:13:30,542 And here's the thing. 248 00:13:30,596 --> 00:13:33,922 I don't know everything about you, but I know enough to know that there is enough 249 00:13:33,976 --> 00:13:35,906 challenges coming your way. 250 00:13:36,008 --> 00:13:42,834 Like, your life is complicated enough and too much is going on in your life for you to 251 00:13:42,872 --> 00:13:46,610 think that you can just periodically find time to be with Jesus. 252 00:13:47,990 --> 00:13:51,190 Be honest about yourself and be honest about your life. 253 00:13:51,340 --> 00:13:54,966 Because if challenges were regularly coming to him, he often got away. 254 00:13:55,148 --> 00:13:56,934 Challenges are also regularly coming to you. 255 00:13:56,972 --> 00:14:01,626 You need to often learn to get away and be quiet with God. 256 00:14:01,808 --> 00:14:03,500 You have too much going on. 257 00:14:03,870 --> 00:14:04,762 The next word. 258 00:14:04,816 --> 00:14:06,870 But Jesus often withdrew. 259 00:14:07,030 --> 00:14:08,540 He got away from people. 260 00:14:08,910 --> 00:14:14,974 The word there in the Greek communicates this idea that he is seeking refuge from danger to 261 00:14:15,012 --> 00:14:17,210 withdrawal is to seek refuge. 262 00:14:17,370 --> 00:14:22,542 And I think the danger for you and I is to believe the lie that we can live a life doing 263 00:14:22,596 --> 00:14:26,100 things for God and never actually being alone with him. 264 00:14:27,510 --> 00:14:32,770 Some of us are still operating under the delusion that you can live life under your own 265 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:38,262 resources and that you actually have enough to be who you are called to be. 266 00:14:38,396 --> 00:14:39,458 You don't. 267 00:14:39,634 --> 00:14:40,546 I don't. 268 00:14:40,658 --> 00:14:42,306 You need to withdraw. 269 00:14:42,498 --> 00:14:43,954 Jesus created distance. 270 00:14:44,002 --> 00:14:48,280 Now, don't hear Jesus withdraw and think, oh, yeah, I can't wait to get away from people. 271 00:14:49,610 --> 00:14:53,978 Being alone and quiet has less to do with being far from people and much more to do with 272 00:14:53,984 --> 00:14:55,194 just being close to God. 273 00:14:55,312 --> 00:14:57,194 So for those of you like, well, Fredo, I got a small house. 274 00:14:57,232 --> 00:14:58,586 I got a small house, too. 275 00:14:58,768 --> 00:15:01,594 And I got demanding life I got demanding responsibilities, demanding kids. 276 00:15:01,632 --> 00:15:07,230 And so, listen, quite frankly, the bathroom can be a fantastic place to be alone. 277 00:15:07,730 --> 00:15:08,382 Like, kids. 278 00:15:08,436 --> 00:15:09,034 Leave me alone. 279 00:15:09,082 --> 00:15:09,882 I'm with Jesus. 280 00:15:09,946 --> 00:15:14,670 And depending on what I ate that day, my stomach might also be with Jesus. 281 00:15:15,490 --> 00:15:18,542 And so withdrawal, like you stepping away. 282 00:15:18,676 --> 00:15:19,826 I know it's so hard to do. 283 00:15:19,848 --> 00:15:24,286 Like, it's just so hard to let things go and step away, think less about just retreating 284 00:15:24,318 --> 00:15:29,720 away from people to some kind know, therapeutic oasis and more about getting close to God. 285 00:15:30,570 --> 00:15:33,426 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places. 286 00:15:33,538 --> 00:15:34,146 Ramos. 287 00:15:34,178 --> 00:15:37,974 In the Greek, there is what is translated, it could also mean deserted place. 288 00:15:38,012 --> 00:15:40,950 Some of our translations say deserted place, lonely place. 289 00:15:41,020 --> 00:15:44,806 Some of them say quiet place, which is not what John Krasinski had in mind when he wrote 290 00:15:44,838 --> 00:15:45,834 and directed the quiet place. 291 00:15:45,872 --> 00:15:47,450 It's a very different reality. 292 00:15:47,950 --> 00:15:49,820 Jesus's quiet place is different. 293 00:15:50,590 --> 00:15:51,900 And he pulled away. 294 00:15:52,430 --> 00:15:57,134 And this is why I think prayer can begin not with us just saying things to God, which is 295 00:15:57,172 --> 00:15:57,710 very important. 296 00:15:57,780 --> 00:15:58,782 Don't get me wrong. 297 00:15:58,916 --> 00:16:05,262 But what if 40 days of prayer began with you and I learning just to be quiet, to be alone, 298 00:16:05,406 --> 00:16:06,530 to be quiet. 299 00:16:07,030 --> 00:16:09,170 And this withdrawal had an intention. 300 00:16:09,910 --> 00:16:14,302 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places, and he prayed. 301 00:16:14,446 --> 00:16:17,726 Now, if we were to retranslate this verse about my life, it would say Fredo often withdrew 302 00:16:17,758 --> 00:16:20,680 to lonely places to be an introvert and watch the Laker game. 303 00:16:21,530 --> 00:16:24,774 Or Alex often withdrew to lonely places and scrolled on his phone. 304 00:16:24,892 --> 00:16:27,806 Or Megan often withdrew to lonely places and watched tv. 305 00:16:27,938 --> 00:16:31,690 Or mark often withdrew to lonely places and checked his declining stocks. 306 00:16:32,430 --> 00:16:35,702 But Jesus withdrew to pray. 307 00:16:35,846 --> 00:16:36,858 That was his focus. 308 00:16:36,944 --> 00:16:40,234 This isn't, know, a divine version of me time. 309 00:16:40,432 --> 00:16:42,394 This isn't just therapy for Jesus. 310 00:16:42,522 --> 00:16:44,814 He's creating distance to be close to God. 311 00:16:44,932 --> 00:16:50,960 What in your life needs to change so that you can create distance to be close to God? 312 00:16:51,890 --> 00:16:53,040 What is it? 313 00:16:53,670 --> 00:17:00,078 Because I am beyond convinced that what you need most right now is the practice of solitude 314 00:17:00,174 --> 00:17:01,410 and silence. 315 00:17:02,710 --> 00:17:05,890 And with that, let me offer some thoughts as to why we need it first. 316 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:11,254 We need silence and solitude because this practice reveals what is happening in our 317 00:17:11,292 --> 00:17:12,440 internal lives. 318 00:17:13,050 --> 00:17:17,974 For example, if you are anything like me, the moment I get into a space where I'm by myself 319 00:17:18,012 --> 00:17:22,966 and it's finally quiet, about 10,000 things enter my mind, even as a pastor. 320 00:17:22,998 --> 00:17:28,074 Like, I am all over the place, from thinking about my conversation with Ashley to work, to 321 00:17:28,112 --> 00:17:32,518 how bad the Lakers are, to the last episode of the crown that I just watched with Ashley. 322 00:17:32,534 --> 00:17:36,506 And then I start to daydream, like, oh, man, I start to daydream and pray in a british 323 00:17:36,538 --> 00:17:37,230 accent. 324 00:17:38,050 --> 00:17:41,518 And then I start to think about, oh, man, I had a grandpa born in Manchester before he 325 00:17:41,524 --> 00:17:42,430 migrated to the US. 326 00:17:42,500 --> 00:17:44,670 What if I were to live in the UK? 327 00:17:45,570 --> 00:17:46,766 Like, what would happen? 328 00:17:46,868 --> 00:17:47,674 I like basketball. 329 00:17:47,722 --> 00:17:49,630 Maybe I would have played soccer or cricket. 330 00:17:49,790 --> 00:17:52,670 Maybe if I lived in the UK, I would have liked tea over coffee. 331 00:17:52,750 --> 00:17:53,374 How do they dress? 332 00:17:53,422 --> 00:17:54,414 They have sneakers in the UK. 333 00:17:54,462 --> 00:17:55,394 I go all over the place. 334 00:17:55,432 --> 00:17:57,650 I start to imagine my life as a Brit. 335 00:17:58,310 --> 00:18:00,406 And then I come back to prayer, like, oh, shoot, where was I? 336 00:18:00,428 --> 00:18:01,766 Yes, God, that's right. 337 00:18:01,948 --> 00:18:03,654 My future, Lord, my future. 338 00:18:03,772 --> 00:18:05,478 Would you just tell me everything I need to know? 339 00:18:05,564 --> 00:18:06,390 Amen. 340 00:18:07,770 --> 00:18:12,794 I just let you into a window of what it's like to be quiet in my brain, and that's like 40 341 00:18:12,832 --> 00:18:13,126 seconds. 342 00:18:13,158 --> 00:18:14,700 I'm like, oh, what am I doing next? 343 00:18:15,310 --> 00:18:20,794 But getting into a place of quiet and stillness allows for all things to surface, both 344 00:18:20,832 --> 00:18:21,782 thoughts and feelings. 345 00:18:21,846 --> 00:18:23,914 And what if for a second, that's not a bad thing? 346 00:18:23,952 --> 00:18:28,734 You guys, let me just offer to you one of my favorite psalms found in the book, psalm 131. 347 00:18:28,772 --> 00:18:31,710 David writes this, lord, my heart is not proud. 348 00:18:32,470 --> 00:18:34,318 My eyes are not haughty. 349 00:18:34,494 --> 00:18:35,902 And then listen to this phrase. 350 00:18:35,966 --> 00:18:41,890 I don't concern myself with matters too great or too awesome for me to grasp. 351 00:18:42,790 --> 00:18:50,534 David's saying that he can recognize all that's surfacing, but he's embracing his 352 00:18:50,572 --> 00:18:55,958 limitations as a human being and offering them to God instead. 353 00:18:56,044 --> 00:19:02,454 He says, instead, I have calmed and quieted myself like a weaned child who no longer cries 354 00:19:02,502 --> 00:19:03,638 for its mother's milk. 355 00:19:03,734 --> 00:19:07,660 Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me. 356 00:19:08,190 --> 00:19:14,474 David is mature enough to just name what is internally happening, to not see it as a bad 357 00:19:14,512 --> 00:19:18,574 thing, but to actually see it as the very thing that he could connect with God about. 358 00:19:18,692 --> 00:19:20,318 So here's what I'm saying to you. 359 00:19:20,404 --> 00:19:25,314 What if all of those thoughts and feelings became the very pathways to a conversation with 360 00:19:25,352 --> 00:19:25,940 God? 361 00:19:26,390 --> 00:19:30,434 All of those things that flood your mind, your heart, your to do list, what you're going to 362 00:19:30,472 --> 00:19:36,786 eat, that lingering fear about that conversation you had, what if those became doorways to 363 00:19:36,808 --> 00:19:40,038 revelation, things that need to come out? 364 00:19:40,204 --> 00:19:43,634 Because all of those things flooding in you does not mean you're a bad christian. 365 00:19:43,682 --> 00:19:45,826 It just means you're a real human Christian. 366 00:19:46,018 --> 00:19:47,480 That's all that means. 367 00:19:47,930 --> 00:19:51,270 And solitude is not just a therapeutic getaway for a moment. 368 00:19:51,340 --> 00:19:53,506 It is the focal point of transformation. 369 00:19:53,618 --> 00:19:57,626 All of that stuff in you is doing something to you, which means it needs to come out so 370 00:19:57,648 --> 00:20:00,474 that God can now use it to do something to you, too. 371 00:20:00,672 --> 00:20:05,914 That's what's happening, rather than leaving us as just victims of living in a very noisy 372 00:20:05,962 --> 00:20:10,686 society under the illusion of a false self that we feel more comfortable living. 373 00:20:10,868 --> 00:20:14,762 This is why we go to great lengths, I think, to actually avoid being quiet. 374 00:20:14,826 --> 00:20:17,490 Because when you are quiet, the truth comes out. 375 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:21,938 And many of us don't have the courage to face what is actually inside of us. 376 00:20:22,104 --> 00:20:25,880 But hear me, whatever is down there will make its way out. 377 00:20:26,570 --> 00:20:27,462 It will. 378 00:20:27,596 --> 00:20:33,606 The pain, the excitement, the disappointment you're facing, the anger, the confusion, the 379 00:20:33,628 --> 00:20:39,122 lust in your heart, all of those things need to surface in a place where we can recognize 380 00:20:39,186 --> 00:20:44,186 them, name them, allow the power of them to become less of a stronghold in our life, and 381 00:20:44,208 --> 00:20:45,580 then we offer them to God. 382 00:20:46,110 --> 00:20:50,060 God, I've noticed this pattern of fear around my money. 383 00:20:50,430 --> 00:20:50,746 God. 384 00:20:50,768 --> 00:20:55,486 I've noticed this pattern of fear around who my kids are becoming, who I'm becoming as a 385 00:20:55,508 --> 00:20:55,946 dad. 386 00:20:56,058 --> 00:20:57,054 Help me. 387 00:20:57,252 --> 00:20:57,918 Help me. 388 00:20:58,004 --> 00:21:02,110 You see, this practice becomes a critical way for us to face our emotions. 389 00:21:02,530 --> 00:21:06,666 If you were here for our healthy series, Pastor Matt a few weeks ago talked about knowing 390 00:21:06,698 --> 00:21:09,602 that our emotions are real, but they're not always right. 391 00:21:09,736 --> 00:21:11,694 And so we should learn to question our emotions. 392 00:21:11,742 --> 00:21:16,854 And one of the best questions that you can surface as they come up is to say, what is the 393 00:21:16,892 --> 00:21:22,470 underlying truth or lie that I might be believing as it connects to this emotion? 394 00:21:23,450 --> 00:21:28,746 Meaning, solitude and silence provide an opportunity to identify how we're feeling and then 395 00:21:28,768 --> 00:21:34,650 to begin to discern what's the story I'm believing underneath that thought or that emotion. 396 00:21:35,630 --> 00:21:41,102 And this could be why I think, man, so many of us are scared to do this. 397 00:21:41,236 --> 00:21:42,670 But here's the truth. 398 00:21:43,810 --> 00:21:46,400 Those things, they leak out of you. 399 00:21:47,170 --> 00:21:51,982 So your options are either they leak out of you in the relationships that you cherish most, 400 00:21:52,116 --> 00:21:57,186 or you allow the practice of solitude and silence to allow those things to surface in the 401 00:21:57,208 --> 00:21:59,250 safety of God's loving presence. 402 00:21:59,990 --> 00:22:02,420 Where would you rather be your whole self? 403 00:22:03,910 --> 00:22:06,920 Will it leak out of you trying to do a word problem with your child? 404 00:22:08,010 --> 00:22:14,614 Or will you realize, in solitude and silence, you are before the eyes of a loving God who 405 00:22:14,652 --> 00:22:19,162 sees all of what you're thinking and feeling and is still faithful to love you? 406 00:22:19,296 --> 00:22:25,162 You see, solitude and silence offer us a chance to move away from self deception to self 407 00:22:25,216 --> 00:22:30,590 awareness in the very safety of a God who is present to us. 408 00:22:30,740 --> 00:22:35,230 This is the beginning point of all true christian prayer. 409 00:22:35,890 --> 00:22:42,480 You are your full self before a whole and true God and communion can now start. 410 00:22:43,970 --> 00:22:48,222 The second reason why I think we need solitude and silence is because this practice reveals 411 00:22:48,286 --> 00:22:49,940 purpose for our lives. 412 00:22:50,390 --> 00:22:52,290 Like, imagine just for a moment. 413 00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:56,302 Giving yourself regularly to this kind of prayer actually gave you clarity. 414 00:22:56,366 --> 00:22:57,566 We already heard from the scientists. 415 00:22:57,598 --> 00:22:59,122 They can grow your brain cells. 416 00:22:59,266 --> 00:23:01,526 What if they also grew your vision for life? 417 00:23:01,708 --> 00:23:03,234 Think of first kings 19. 418 00:23:03,282 --> 00:23:05,702 Elijah, the darkest moment of his life. 419 00:23:05,836 --> 00:23:07,346 He goes up into a mountain. 420 00:23:07,458 --> 00:23:08,738 He's ready to die. 421 00:23:08,834 --> 00:23:10,726 And God comes to him and says two things. 422 00:23:10,828 --> 00:23:12,018 Same question twice. 423 00:23:12,114 --> 00:23:13,430 Elijah, what are you doing? 424 00:23:13,580 --> 00:23:17,226 Now, if you were raised in the christian church, you might have heard that story and 425 00:23:17,248 --> 00:23:19,434 thought, like, God came to him and said, elijah, what are you doing? 426 00:23:19,472 --> 00:23:20,038 Get down the mountain. 427 00:23:20,054 --> 00:23:20,566 You're a prophet. 428 00:23:20,598 --> 00:23:21,126 You're so dumb. 429 00:23:21,158 --> 00:23:21,994 Get down. 430 00:23:22,192 --> 00:23:28,030 But I'm more hopeful of the possibility that God just said, elijah, what are you doing? 431 00:23:28,180 --> 00:23:31,710 Like, he's willing to explore with Elijah what is happening inside of him. 432 00:23:31,780 --> 00:23:32,938 He cooks him a meal. 433 00:23:33,034 --> 00:23:33,626 He's gentle. 434 00:23:33,658 --> 00:23:35,242 And then we read this in verse eleven. 435 00:23:35,306 --> 00:23:38,250 Go out, God says, and stand before me on the mountain. 436 00:23:38,410 --> 00:23:39,470 The Lord told him. 437 00:23:39,540 --> 00:23:40,574 And then Elijah stood there. 438 00:23:40,612 --> 00:23:43,866 Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm, we were told, hit the mountain. 439 00:23:43,898 --> 00:23:46,450 It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose. 440 00:23:46,530 --> 00:23:48,022 But the Lord was not in the wind. 441 00:23:48,076 --> 00:23:49,334 You guys know how this goes. 442 00:23:49,452 --> 00:23:52,626 After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 443 00:23:52,658 --> 00:23:56,518 And after the earthquake, there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. 444 00:23:56,684 --> 00:24:01,450 And after the fire, there was the sound of what a gentle whisper. 445 00:24:03,070 --> 00:24:09,702 It is in that moment that Elijah hears God speak and give him direction. 446 00:24:09,846 --> 00:24:14,566 He says, you're going to go anoint two kings, hazel, jehu, you're also going to go anoint 447 00:24:14,678 --> 00:24:18,394 Elisha, who will be the successor to you as a prophet. 448 00:24:18,442 --> 00:24:21,978 And, oh, by the way, there are plenty of people who have not bowed the knee to Baal. 449 00:24:22,074 --> 00:24:23,850 I am just fine as Yahweh. 450 00:24:23,930 --> 00:24:25,120 You will be okay. 451 00:24:26,310 --> 00:24:30,866 Jesus also has a very similar experience in mark, chapter 140, days and nights in the 452 00:24:30,888 --> 00:24:35,730 desert, discovering who he truly is as a son of God comes back, and then, we're told, 453 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:37,086 immediately went into towns. 454 00:24:37,118 --> 00:24:38,306 He knew what his next mission was. 455 00:24:38,328 --> 00:24:41,414 He knew what his purpose was to bring good news to people who need it. 456 00:24:41,532 --> 00:24:46,146 The apostle Paul in a very similar situation as he's writing to the church in Galatia. 457 00:24:46,178 --> 00:24:51,450 In Galatians, he talks about spending three years in the arabian desert with Jesus, getting 458 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:52,534 purpose, direction. 459 00:24:52,582 --> 00:24:57,002 I'm going to be someone who brings good news to the gentile world to help them understand 460 00:24:57,136 --> 00:24:59,194 the message of Jesus and who he is. 461 00:24:59,312 --> 00:25:01,466 Often, not always, but listen. 462 00:25:01,648 --> 00:25:07,694 We come from solitude and silence with a sense of a renewed vision of who we truly are and 463 00:25:07,732 --> 00:25:09,022 what our purpose is. 464 00:25:09,156 --> 00:25:13,646 And I would just be curious to know how many of you have allowed the noise of your life to 465 00:25:13,668 --> 00:25:15,550 distort your actual identity. 466 00:25:16,210 --> 00:25:20,594 And how many of you have allowed the noise and just the movement at which you go to keep 467 00:25:20,632 --> 00:25:24,578 you from getting a clear sense of direction and purpose from God. 468 00:25:24,744 --> 00:25:26,520 You can think of it almost like this. 469 00:25:27,290 --> 00:25:34,210 If the noise and the pressure of our lives send us into solitude and silence, then purpose 470 00:25:34,290 --> 00:25:36,374 sends us back into the world, right? 471 00:25:36,412 --> 00:25:41,350 So we withdraw to be with God for the purpose of being resent, back out in the world. 472 00:25:41,500 --> 00:25:43,398 Pressure sends you into silence. 473 00:25:43,494 --> 00:25:47,034 Purpose sends you out of it, back into the world, and you come out different. 474 00:25:47,232 --> 00:25:51,500 You have a sense of clarity and of an understanding of who you need to become. 475 00:25:52,030 --> 00:25:52,394 Man. 476 00:25:52,432 --> 00:25:56,330 You and I, we need this practice far more than we could possibly imagine. 477 00:25:56,490 --> 00:26:00,366 And lastly, we need this because this practice also changes. 478 00:26:00,468 --> 00:26:01,150 Listen now. 479 00:26:01,220 --> 00:26:03,460 It changes us by the love of God. 480 00:26:04,390 --> 00:26:11,090 One of the great truths that you get more and more at home with is that when you are alone, 481 00:26:11,590 --> 00:26:13,250 you're actually not alone. 482 00:26:14,790 --> 00:26:16,020 You're with God. 483 00:26:17,270 --> 00:26:18,414 You're with God. 484 00:26:18,552 --> 00:26:22,774 And all that internal mess that is beginning to surface, that you just want to continue to 485 00:26:22,812 --> 00:26:30,074 stuff, is laid bare before the eyes of someone who the Bible calls your father, your 486 00:26:30,112 --> 00:26:39,398 heavenly father, who is by the very definition, compassionate, merciful, slow to anger. 487 00:26:39,494 --> 00:26:43,390 He is the safest being in the universe. 488 00:26:44,610 --> 00:26:51,710 And so to give yourself to this practice is to open yourself to love and to experience it, 489 00:26:51,780 --> 00:26:54,238 not just to read about it in a book or take a class on it. 490 00:26:54,244 --> 00:26:55,194 Those things are fantastic. 491 00:26:55,242 --> 00:26:57,714 But you and I need to experience the love of God. 492 00:26:57,832 --> 00:26:59,842 Paul in Ephesians said it like this. 493 00:26:59,976 --> 00:27:01,166 He's praying for the church. 494 00:27:01,198 --> 00:27:05,314 He says, I pray that out of his glorious riches, he may strengthen you with power through 495 00:27:05,352 --> 00:27:09,826 his spirit, in your inner being, in your soul, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts 496 00:27:09,858 --> 00:27:10,450 through faith. 497 00:27:10,530 --> 00:27:15,670 He goes on, and I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, 498 00:27:15,740 --> 00:27:21,606 together with all of the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long, how high and deep 499 00:27:21,638 --> 00:27:22,714 is the love of Christ. 500 00:27:22,832 --> 00:27:27,690 And then listen to this phrase and to know his love that surpasses knowledge. 501 00:27:28,030 --> 00:27:28,790 Pause. 502 00:27:28,870 --> 00:27:30,182 Let me ask you a question. 503 00:27:30,336 --> 00:27:34,560 How would you know something that goes beyond knowing it? 504 00:27:35,810 --> 00:27:40,030 What I think Paul is after is experiencing it for yourselves. 505 00:27:40,690 --> 00:27:45,890 And the tragedy, I think of a lot of christians here in America is that we have never 506 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:51,954 experienced the love of God because the noise of our lives, it's not so much that you 507 00:27:51,992 --> 00:27:56,200 dislike God, it's that you're just too busy for him. 508 00:27:57,610 --> 00:28:03,240 Things are too loud for you to actually hear him speak to you. 509 00:28:04,410 --> 00:28:09,206 And what an opportunity to embrace this practice in a way that it actually begins to change 510 00:28:09,228 --> 00:28:09,414 us. 511 00:28:09,452 --> 00:28:10,630 Something is happening to you. 512 00:28:10,700 --> 00:28:10,886 Now. 513 00:28:10,908 --> 00:28:14,962 Here's why I say that, because I would hate for our church, over the course of this series, 514 00:28:15,026 --> 00:28:18,690 40 days of prayer, to just walk around, be saying, how am I doing a prayer? 515 00:28:18,850 --> 00:28:19,966 Oh, I kind of prayed today. 516 00:28:20,028 --> 00:28:20,586 Didn't pray yesterday. 517 00:28:20,618 --> 00:28:20,826 Shoot. 518 00:28:20,858 --> 00:28:21,466 I forgot to pray. 519 00:28:21,498 --> 00:28:24,730 Even though the church is going to send me a text three times a day to remind me to pray, 520 00:28:24,890 --> 00:28:26,830 I'm going to opt out because it's just too much. 521 00:28:26,900 --> 00:28:27,518 Right. 522 00:28:27,684 --> 00:28:28,826 How am I doing at prayer? 523 00:28:28,858 --> 00:28:29,626 I'm not good at prayer. 524 00:28:29,658 --> 00:28:30,526 I kind of stink at it. 525 00:28:30,548 --> 00:28:33,230 Oh, well, that is not the right question to ask. 526 00:28:33,380 --> 00:28:36,686 We should not be asking over the next 40 days, how am I doing at prayer? 527 00:28:36,718 --> 00:28:37,762 Here's the better question. 528 00:28:37,896 --> 00:28:40,020 What is prayer doing to me? 529 00:28:40,790 --> 00:28:44,770 Who am I becoming as a result of the practice of prayer? 530 00:28:45,670 --> 00:28:51,446 Because by being in the very presence of love, you are becoming a more loving person. 531 00:28:51,628 --> 00:28:56,434 You're in the presence of God, the one who has always been and always will be loved. 532 00:28:56,482 --> 00:28:57,958 You will become like him. 533 00:28:58,124 --> 00:28:59,830 You're in the very presence of grace. 534 00:28:59,910 --> 00:29:03,274 How can you not then become a more gracious person? 535 00:29:03,392 --> 00:29:09,638 You are in the presence of a forgiving, patient, kind, wonderful, wise counselor, we're 536 00:29:09,654 --> 00:29:12,800 told, how can you not become more like him? 537 00:29:14,130 --> 00:29:17,418 Prayer does something to us christians. 538 00:29:17,434 --> 00:29:19,166 Let's be done asking, how am I doing it? 539 00:29:19,188 --> 00:29:19,326 This. 540 00:29:19,348 --> 00:29:19,966 How am I doing it? 541 00:29:19,988 --> 00:29:20,318 No. 542 00:29:20,404 --> 00:29:22,414 What is that doing to you? 543 00:29:22,612 --> 00:29:24,574 What is it doing to you and to me? 544 00:29:24,612 --> 00:29:26,382 And what is it doing to our church? 545 00:29:26,526 --> 00:29:30,370 The hope is not that we finish 40 days and we're like, sandals knows how to pray. 546 00:29:30,790 --> 00:29:35,874 But that sandals has been transformed by the ongoing practice of giving ourselves to 547 00:29:35,912 --> 00:29:36,690 prayer. 548 00:29:37,510 --> 00:29:38,840 That is our hope. 549 00:29:39,450 --> 00:29:41,670 And, man, I needed this definition years ago. 550 00:29:41,740 --> 00:29:43,234 I needed this Roman Catholic. 551 00:29:43,282 --> 00:29:43,986 Who knows? 552 00:29:44,098 --> 00:29:47,554 Who would have thought a Baptist trained guy would have needed a Catholic? 553 00:29:47,602 --> 00:29:53,306 But Ronald Roheiser says it like this, that prayer is relaxing into the goodness of God. 554 00:29:53,488 --> 00:29:56,410 Now, as a nine, I love that idea of relaxing. 555 00:29:56,830 --> 00:30:01,766 Prayer is just falling in less of a duty and just falling into the very goodness of God and 556 00:30:01,808 --> 00:30:03,230 letting him change me. 557 00:30:03,380 --> 00:30:04,554 Now, let's get real practical. 558 00:30:04,602 --> 00:30:05,754 How can we begin this practice? 559 00:30:05,802 --> 00:30:08,794 First, real easily. 560 00:30:08,842 --> 00:30:12,618 Now, find some time in your day to be alone and quiet. 561 00:30:12,714 --> 00:30:13,466 There's the nugget. 562 00:30:13,498 --> 00:30:16,580 30 minutes to just be told, sit still. 563 00:30:17,030 --> 00:30:17,906 That's it. 564 00:30:18,008 --> 00:30:19,140 Find some time. 565 00:30:19,590 --> 00:30:21,730 Maybe you set a five minute timer. 566 00:30:22,470 --> 00:30:26,658 Find a moment in your day where you're just alone and quiet, like, when I wake up, I try to 567 00:30:26,664 --> 00:30:27,442 do it first thing. 568 00:30:27,496 --> 00:30:30,340 Have a cup of coffee, and I just sit quietly before God. 569 00:30:30,710 --> 00:30:32,726 Sometimes I do it after I work out in the morning. 570 00:30:32,828 --> 00:30:33,698 I just try to be quiet. 571 00:30:33,714 --> 00:30:35,480 I'll set a timer, five to ten minutes. 572 00:30:35,930 --> 00:30:39,218 And for those of you who feel like prayer is such a challenge because you don't know what 573 00:30:39,244 --> 00:30:40,934 to say, here's the beauty of silence. 574 00:30:40,982 --> 00:30:43,226 Don't say anything like, just shut up. 575 00:30:43,248 --> 00:30:44,220 Just be there. 576 00:30:44,590 --> 00:30:48,202 Just literally sit with God as you actually are. 577 00:30:48,256 --> 00:30:49,818 Just sit before him. 578 00:30:49,984 --> 00:30:52,074 Let him work, let him stir in you. 579 00:30:52,192 --> 00:30:55,114 And some of you are like, well, five minutes, that sounds like a nightmare. 580 00:30:55,242 --> 00:30:57,438 Others, you feel like that's not enough time. 581 00:30:57,604 --> 00:30:59,146 Just start somewhere. 582 00:30:59,338 --> 00:31:06,020 And in starting somewhere, don't underestimate how much Jesus can do with so little of you. 583 00:31:07,110 --> 00:31:10,082 How much can Jesus do with so little of you? 584 00:31:10,136 --> 00:31:10,900 A lot. 585 00:31:12,230 --> 00:31:14,542 Thousands of people in the wilderness, they need Dinner. 586 00:31:14,606 --> 00:31:15,762 Where are we getting food? 587 00:31:15,896 --> 00:31:17,170 Who's got lunch? 588 00:31:17,830 --> 00:31:18,686 Fish and loaves. 589 00:31:18,718 --> 00:31:19,960 I'll put that in my hands. 590 00:31:20,410 --> 00:31:23,026 Feeds thousands on the topic of faith. 591 00:31:23,058 --> 00:31:23,766 How much faith you got? 592 00:31:23,788 --> 00:31:24,866 I got a mustard seed of faith. 593 00:31:24,898 --> 00:31:25,186 Jesus. 594 00:31:25,218 --> 00:31:25,734 Oh, that's enough. 595 00:31:25,772 --> 00:31:27,480 You can move mountains with that. 596 00:31:27,870 --> 00:31:32,682 Don't ever underestimate how much God can do with so little of you. 597 00:31:32,816 --> 00:31:38,540 Five minutes alone and quiet can go a long way in your life. 598 00:31:38,910 --> 00:31:43,078 Secondly, as you work out this simple point, just to find some time and be quiet and alone, 599 00:31:43,174 --> 00:31:45,280 remember that presence is better than perfect. 600 00:31:45,650 --> 00:31:48,426 So imperfectly show up to quiet prayer. 601 00:31:48,538 --> 00:31:50,606 When I get to prayer, I am a mess. 602 00:31:50,708 --> 00:31:51,214 I am not. 603 00:31:51,252 --> 00:31:55,486 Okay, let's be done with the delusion that pastors are just better at everything than their 604 00:31:55,508 --> 00:31:56,126 church members are. 605 00:31:56,148 --> 00:31:56,714 We are not. 606 00:31:56,772 --> 00:31:57,630 We struggle. 607 00:31:57,710 --> 00:31:58,894 I show up disappointed. 608 00:31:58,942 --> 00:32:04,098 I show up guilty because I didn't get here earlier, or I only got two minutes because I got 609 00:32:04,104 --> 00:32:05,086 a meeting with a church member. 610 00:32:05,118 --> 00:32:06,210 So this has got to be quick. 611 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:09,480 Like, I don't levitate into prayer like God, here I am. 612 00:32:11,130 --> 00:32:16,022 I don't know a single person does that, but you can imperfectly just show up for it. 613 00:32:16,076 --> 00:32:20,280 I stumble into this practice, and God is still very kind to me. 614 00:32:20,730 --> 00:32:25,866 Presence is better than perfect, so imperfectly show up for it and be done with the hang of 615 00:32:25,888 --> 00:32:25,978 it. 616 00:32:25,984 --> 00:32:27,146 I don't know if I'm doing prayer right. 617 00:32:27,168 --> 00:32:28,374 I've just never been good at prayer. 618 00:32:28,422 --> 00:32:30,646 I love the wise words of Roberta Bondi. 619 00:32:30,678 --> 00:32:36,410 She is a christian historian who has studied prayer specifically, especially as the ancient 620 00:32:36,490 --> 00:32:37,626 mothers and fathers. 621 00:32:37,738 --> 00:32:39,582 That's a whole category for another message. 622 00:32:39,636 --> 00:32:44,020 But she says this, if you're praying, you're already doing it, right? 623 00:32:44,630 --> 00:32:46,740 So don't worry about being perfect. 624 00:32:47,270 --> 00:32:48,740 Be present to it. 625 00:32:49,190 --> 00:32:54,594 Next, I want you just to embrace all the distractions and see them as opportunities to 626 00:32:54,632 --> 00:32:55,730 return to Jesus. 627 00:32:56,070 --> 00:33:00,562 Rich Riot has talked about this in his book, deeply formed life, that every distraction 628 00:33:00,626 --> 00:33:03,314 presents another opportunity just to return to prayer. 629 00:33:03,442 --> 00:33:06,626 Because you know what that makes you as someone who just drifts all the time of prayer, 630 00:33:06,738 --> 00:33:10,362 makes you a human being with a british accent sometimes, right? 631 00:33:10,416 --> 00:33:11,820 Just thinking about it. 632 00:33:12,190 --> 00:33:16,986 And so I have found recently, in dealing with distractions, this phrase, in dealing with 633 00:33:17,008 --> 00:33:21,770 distractions, you can just say, when I think about blank, whatever that is, lunch. 634 00:33:22,990 --> 00:33:26,846 An imaginary fight I'm having with everybody, which is why I'm a nine, because I've already 635 00:33:26,868 --> 00:33:28,590 argued with you in my head, and I won. 636 00:33:28,660 --> 00:33:30,720 So we don't need to talk about it in real life. 637 00:33:31,330 --> 00:33:36,514 But whenever you think about blank, just simply say the words, Jesus, here I am. 638 00:33:36,712 --> 00:33:37,794 Just return. 639 00:33:37,992 --> 00:33:39,154 I got work in five minutes. 640 00:33:39,192 --> 00:33:40,466 Jesus, here I am. 641 00:33:40,648 --> 00:33:41,854 I can't stand my spouse. 642 00:33:41,902 --> 00:33:43,140 Jesus, here I am. 643 00:33:43,910 --> 00:33:45,226 I think I've gained a pound. 644 00:33:45,278 --> 00:33:46,600 Jesus, here I am. 645 00:33:48,010 --> 00:33:49,640 We create this time. 646 00:33:51,370 --> 00:33:57,160 We create this time because we remember that God first longs to be with us. 647 00:33:57,530 --> 00:33:59,174 Here is the good news. 648 00:33:59,372 --> 00:34:03,354 Whether you pray in the quiet for the next 40 days straight or you never pray for the next 649 00:34:03,392 --> 00:34:06,730 40 weeks, God's love for you remains steadfast. 650 00:34:07,390 --> 00:34:09,542 The psalms say that God's love is unchanging. 651 00:34:09,606 --> 00:34:10,390 It's faithful. 652 00:34:10,470 --> 00:34:13,662 God's love has integrity, which mean it doesn't go up and down. 653 00:34:13,716 --> 00:34:15,278 It remains the same. 654 00:34:15,444 --> 00:34:20,958 The story of the Bible is about a God who loves us so much that he is always moving towards 655 00:34:21,044 --> 00:34:21,486 us. 656 00:34:21,588 --> 00:34:22,302 In love. 657 00:34:22,356 --> 00:34:25,200 He desires to be with us. 658 00:34:25,670 --> 00:34:26,766 Creation. 659 00:34:26,958 --> 00:34:32,434 God makes Adam and Eve in a garden of solitude so much so that we're told that in the cool 660 00:34:32,472 --> 00:34:35,766 of the day, God would walk to be with them. 661 00:34:35,948 --> 00:34:42,178 Unfortunately, though, Adam and Eve, despite being with God, wanted to be God, so they're 662 00:34:42,194 --> 00:34:43,110 banished. 663 00:34:44,010 --> 00:34:47,160 Thankfully, the good news is that doesn't stop God. 664 00:34:47,610 --> 00:34:52,262 He continues to pursue, so much so that he comes as a cloud in the sky, a pillar of fire. 665 00:34:52,316 --> 00:34:55,562 Were told to still be with his people. 666 00:34:55,696 --> 00:34:56,806 He gives them instructions. 667 00:34:56,838 --> 00:34:58,314 You can build a tabernacle like this. 668 00:34:58,352 --> 00:34:59,642 You can build a temple like this. 669 00:34:59,696 --> 00:34:59,914 Why? 670 00:34:59,952 --> 00:35:01,482 So that you can be in my presence again. 671 00:35:01,536 --> 00:35:02,486 So that we can commune. 672 00:35:02,518 --> 00:35:05,902 So that we can pray and talk and have life together. 673 00:35:06,036 --> 00:35:06,974 It's still not enough. 674 00:35:07,012 --> 00:35:11,566 As the human race continues to grow, we would rather be God than be with him, which is why 675 00:35:11,588 --> 00:35:15,818 when Jesus taught us to pray, your kingdom come, your will be done, is the exact opposite 676 00:35:15,834 --> 00:35:17,618 of what all of our hearts would rather say. 677 00:35:17,704 --> 00:35:19,810 My kingdom come, my will be done. 678 00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:21,886 That is the definition of sin. 679 00:35:22,078 --> 00:35:25,300 Trying to take from God what he desires to freely give us. 680 00:35:25,670 --> 00:35:27,460 We all do that in our lives. 681 00:35:28,070 --> 00:35:29,234 But that doesn't stop God. 682 00:35:29,272 --> 00:35:31,654 He sends prophets, reminding them, I will be with you. 683 00:35:31,692 --> 00:35:34,002 I will free you and deliver you from exile. 684 00:35:34,066 --> 00:35:35,414 You will be with me one day. 685 00:35:35,452 --> 00:35:40,422 And then his love for us drives him so great to a distance that he's willing to come to us 686 00:35:40,476 --> 00:35:41,170 himself. 687 00:35:41,330 --> 00:35:42,042 John one. 688 00:35:42,096 --> 00:35:43,322 In the beginning was the word. 689 00:35:43,376 --> 00:35:45,482 The word was with God, and the word was God. 690 00:35:45,536 --> 00:35:46,182 Verse 14. 691 00:35:46,246 --> 00:35:49,098 And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. 692 00:35:49,264 --> 00:35:52,714 God came to be with us. 693 00:35:52,832 --> 00:35:56,158 And the good news of the gospel is that through the life, death, and resurrection, you and 694 00:35:56,164 --> 00:35:59,600 I can be with God forever, starting now. 695 00:36:01,090 --> 00:36:04,346 And we're told that after he beat death on our behalf, he rose from the dead. 696 00:36:04,378 --> 00:36:08,034 He ascends to the right hand of the Father, the scriptures say, and the Holy Spirit comes 697 00:36:08,072 --> 00:36:08,322 down. 698 00:36:08,376 --> 00:36:08,594 Why? 699 00:36:08,632 --> 00:36:11,410 Because God longs to be with us. 700 00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:14,574 This is the point of scripture and the very end in revelation. 701 00:36:14,622 --> 00:36:16,674 It's not about us getting zapped and wars going on. 702 00:36:16,712 --> 00:36:18,440 It's about God coming down. 703 00:36:19,210 --> 00:36:22,950 Revelation is not about how you and I escape, but how God renews everything. 704 00:36:23,020 --> 00:36:26,790 And he comes down because he longs to be with you and I. 705 00:36:26,860 --> 00:36:31,626 The story of the Bible is about a God who can't get enough of you, so much so that he was 706 00:36:31,648 --> 00:36:34,026 willing to live, die, and rise for you. 707 00:36:34,208 --> 00:36:36,874 That's the good news of the gospel, you guys. 708 00:36:37,072 --> 00:36:38,138 That's it. 709 00:36:38,304 --> 00:36:43,760 And so, as we close, I want us just to actually end by practicing this together. 710 00:36:44,130 --> 00:36:50,430 I'm going to give us a minute or two in silence for some of you, you will squirm. 711 00:36:50,930 --> 00:36:53,646 Others, you might like it wherever you go. 712 00:36:53,668 --> 00:36:59,026 It's not if you get distracted, but when you get distracted, just say, jesus, I'm here, so 713 00:36:59,048 --> 00:37:01,940 let's enter into that moment, and then I'll pray for us as we close. 714 00:38:27,300 --> 00:38:34,996 Jesus, we thank you for living life for us and for not just saving us, but showing us the 715 00:38:35,018 --> 00:38:35,572 way of life. 716 00:38:35,626 --> 00:38:38,550 You are the truth, the life, and the way. 717 00:38:38,920 --> 00:38:45,444 And so would you help us to embrace this practice so that we might discover your love for 718 00:38:45,482 --> 00:38:47,860 us, so that we might be transformed? 719 00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:54,510 Lord, as we begin this 40 day journey of prayer, we want to become different people. 720 00:38:55,600 --> 00:39:02,204 And so you, we ask that, as the disciples once asked, would you teach us to pray and lead 721 00:39:02,242 --> 00:39:04,364 us to a place of communion and love with you. 722 00:39:04,402 --> 00:39:06,696 We pray in Jesus'name. 723 00:39:06,888 --> 00:39:07,400 Amen.