WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:22.260 Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:00:22.780 --> 00:00:25.880 This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons. 00:00:26.100 --> 00:00:30.420 We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear 00:00:30.420 --> 00:00:31.260 the latest message. 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:32.440 Thanks for listening. 00:00:45.400 --> 00:00:46.240 Thank you. 00:00:46.580 --> 00:00:47.300 Thank you. 00:00:48.480 --> 00:00:51.340 It's good to be with you today. 00:00:51.340 --> 00:00:57.580 Hey, I do work at South Carolina Babs Convention, so I work with Chelsea Berger and Michelle 00:00:57.580 --> 00:00:59.540 Schultz and Tim Rice. 00:00:59.700 --> 00:01:02.560 Tim actually hired me four years ago. 00:01:03.300 --> 00:01:06.980 Tim's a great guy, but Michelle and Chelsea, I mean, you know. 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:09.940 Come on, people. 00:01:10.140 --> 00:01:10.760 Come on, people. 00:01:10.940 --> 00:01:11.700 They're the best. 00:01:11.940 --> 00:01:12.740 They're the best. 00:01:13.500 --> 00:01:18.060 So the Serve Team, South Carolina Babs Convention, our primary responsibility is to help churches 00:01:18.060 --> 00:01:19.580 see their communities clearly. 00:01:20.280 --> 00:01:25.640 And then as they see their communities clearly through training or resourcing, we help them 00:01:25.640 --> 00:01:28.000 hopefully launch healthy, successful ministries. 00:01:28.160 --> 00:01:33.140 And that's everything from disaster relief to hunger ministries, ESL ministries, or foster 00:01:33.140 --> 00:01:34.880 care and adoption, or prison ministries. 00:01:35.240 --> 00:01:40.900 We have Heart for Schools, which is a vision to see every school in South Carolina partnered 00:01:40.900 --> 00:01:41.980 with a local church. 00:01:42.300 --> 00:01:48.560 And so there are about 1,200 schools, elementary, middle, and high school across South Carolina. 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:53.580 And right now we have about 500 of those partnered with one of our South Carolina Babs Convention 00:01:53.580 --> 00:01:53.960 churches. 00:01:54.100 --> 00:01:57.840 So we're almost halfway there of seeing that vision realized. 00:01:58.200 --> 00:02:01.960 So that's kind of the work that we do at the convention. 00:02:02.080 --> 00:02:06.280 And I just want to say it is really an honor to be here with you today. 00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:09.280 I appreciate your pastor's invitation to join you. 00:02:10.580 --> 00:02:17.240 So my favorite day in elementary school was the three-legged race. 00:02:18.100 --> 00:02:21.460 And, or my favorite day was field day. 00:02:22.200 --> 00:02:24.780 And three-legged race was my favorite. 00:02:25.260 --> 00:02:29.480 And I think it was my favorite because you didn't have to be the fastest kid in school, 00:02:29.980 --> 00:02:30.140 right? 00:02:30.140 --> 00:02:34.280 Three-legged race, if you're not familiar, it's where you have a partner and you tie your 00:02:34.280 --> 00:02:35.680 inside leg together. 00:02:36.100 --> 00:02:40.620 And the goal is that you are most in sync with your partner. 00:02:40.780 --> 00:02:44.780 And really, whoever is most in sync with their partner, they're going to win, right? 00:02:45.020 --> 00:02:47.660 And so your partner can't go left and you go right. 00:02:47.780 --> 00:02:49.980 Your partner can't go fast and you go slow. 00:02:50.420 --> 00:02:55.740 But if you go, you know, start out slowly and you kind of measure your steps, you can really 00:02:55.740 --> 00:02:56.800 get pretty quick. 00:02:56.800 --> 00:03:01.780 And I think I probably go quicker with a partner than I can by myself because they're dragging 00:03:01.780 --> 00:03:02.760 me along at the time. 00:03:02.880 --> 00:03:04.600 So field day was my favorite. 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:06.740 Three-legged race was the best. 00:03:07.740 --> 00:03:10.920 And the reason I'm thinking about that is your pastor mentioned that you're in the middle 00:03:10.920 --> 00:03:13.120 of this series on prayer. 00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:19.360 And so I began to think about this three-legged race because the goal of that is to be in sync 00:03:19.360 --> 00:03:25.540 with your partner and for me, prayer is about aligning ourselves to God, right? 00:03:25.580 --> 00:03:31.220 So we know that prayer is a conversation with God, but at its core, prayer is an attempt 00:03:31.220 --> 00:03:33.820 to align ourselves with God. 00:03:34.380 --> 00:03:39.180 Prayer at its core is not about me telling God what he ought to do. 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:45.380 Prayer at its core isn't just me talking to God and it's not even just about me waiting 00:03:45.380 --> 00:03:47.320 to download something from God. 00:03:47.320 --> 00:03:52.380 It is at its core an attempt to align ourselves with him. 00:03:52.880 --> 00:03:56.720 You may be familiar with the name Richard Foster. 00:03:56.940 --> 00:03:58.500 He wrote a number of books. 00:03:59.200 --> 00:04:03.500 He wrote probably his most well-known work is Celebration of Discipline. 00:04:03.560 --> 00:04:05.680 He talks about the spiritual disciplines. 00:04:05.860 --> 00:04:10.000 He talks about prayer and fasting and meditation and so forth. 00:04:10.060 --> 00:04:16.760 And he says of prayer, he says, prayer catapults us onto the frontier of the spiritual life. 00:04:17.300 --> 00:04:19.860 And then he continues to say this of prayer. 00:04:20.020 --> 00:04:28.720 He says, in prayer, real prayer, we begin to think God's thoughts after him, to desire the 00:04:28.720 --> 00:04:32.200 things he desires, to love the things he loves. 00:04:32.200 --> 00:04:38.620 And I would add to love the people he loves, to will the things he wills. 00:04:38.880 --> 00:04:44.180 Progressively, then we are taught to see things from his point of view. 00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:52.600 Isn't that a beautiful picture of prayer that we would be so aligned with God that we would 00:04:52.600 --> 00:04:59.080 begin to think God's thoughts, that we would begin to will the things he wills, to desire 00:04:59.080 --> 00:05:06.480 the things he desires, to love the things and the people he loves, that we would progressively 00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:10.400 begin to see things from his point of view. 00:05:10.880 --> 00:05:12.980 Man, that is prayer. 00:05:13.260 --> 00:05:16.320 That is what it means to be in alignment with God. 00:05:17.420 --> 00:05:19.960 And we could talk this morning about the different types of prayer. 00:05:20.140 --> 00:05:20.780 You know them. 00:05:20.920 --> 00:05:26.400 You know, we could talk about prayer of praise or adoration or prayer of supplication 00:05:26.400 --> 00:05:31.100 or prayer of confession or lament or intercession, right? 00:05:31.160 --> 00:05:35.040 There's corporate prayer and there's personal private prayer. 00:05:35.860 --> 00:05:41.100 But this morning, I really wanted us to have the conversation around if prayer is an alignment 00:05:41.100 --> 00:05:47.000 with God, an attempt to align with God, then what does a life aligned with God through prayer 00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:47.920 look like? 00:05:48.780 --> 00:05:48.900 Right? 00:05:48.940 --> 00:05:51.820 Don't we want to know what it means to have a life of prayer? 00:05:51.920 --> 00:05:52.820 What does that look like? 00:05:52.820 --> 00:06:00.700 Or stated differently, how do I posture myself so that I can be in alignment with God through 00:06:00.700 --> 00:06:01.060 prayer? 00:06:02.220 --> 00:06:03.780 So those are our questions. 00:06:03.960 --> 00:06:06.880 We're going to be in 1 Samuel chapter 3. 00:06:07.020 --> 00:06:09.240 Let me give you a little background as you turn there. 00:06:09.900 --> 00:06:11.440 So 1 Samuel chapter 3. 00:06:12.500 --> 00:06:15.360 The beginning of Samuel tells us about Hannah. 00:06:15.560 --> 00:06:20.580 Hannah was a devout woman who made annual trips to the temple. 00:06:20.580 --> 00:06:28.760 She prayed to God with great devotion and she was grieved because she could not have children. 00:06:29.660 --> 00:06:31.700 And that was a constant prayer for her. 00:06:32.180 --> 00:06:34.640 God bless me with a son. 00:06:34.780 --> 00:06:36.040 God bless me with a son. 00:06:36.100 --> 00:06:38.540 It was a constant prayer for Hannah. 00:06:38.640 --> 00:06:40.120 She had difficulty in her life. 00:06:40.200 --> 00:06:42.320 She was mistreated because she couldn't have kids. 00:06:42.420 --> 00:06:44.160 And so Hannah continued to pray. 00:06:44.260 --> 00:06:45.760 God bless me with a son. 00:06:45.820 --> 00:06:49.720 And this one trip, she went to the temple. 00:06:49.880 --> 00:06:54.380 She brought her offerings and she was there outside the temple praying. 00:06:54.600 --> 00:07:00.200 And just in desperate prayer, Hannah was talking to God saying, bless me with a son. 00:07:00.320 --> 00:07:01.200 Bless me with a son. 00:07:01.480 --> 00:07:04.760 And in fact, she makes a commitment to God. 00:07:04.840 --> 00:07:10.700 She says, if you will bless me with a son, I will bring him back to the temple in essence 00:07:10.700 --> 00:07:17.580 and let him be raised here so that he will serve you all the days of his life. 00:07:17.740 --> 00:07:18.920 Bless me with a son. 00:07:19.540 --> 00:07:20.960 And she was so desperate in her prayer. 00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:27.040 The Bible says in 1 Samuel chapter 1 that she is praying so fervently and deep in her heart. 00:07:27.400 --> 00:07:30.320 Her lips are moving, but no sound is coming out. 00:07:30.400 --> 00:07:31.660 She's just praying to God. 00:07:34.060 --> 00:07:36.020 Well, Eli, the priest, sees her. 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:38.080 It's kind of a funny scene. 00:07:38.180 --> 00:07:43.400 He sees her and because her lips are moving, but no sound's coming out, Eli thinks she's drunk. 00:07:44.140 --> 00:07:48.540 And so Eli kind of jumps on her and he's like, woman, how long will you be a drunk? 00:07:48.740 --> 00:07:50.180 Do away with the wine. 00:07:50.240 --> 00:07:52.260 And she's like, bro, I ain't drunk, you know. 00:07:52.400 --> 00:07:55.840 I don't know if she said it that way, but she was like, no, I'm just desperate. 00:07:56.380 --> 00:07:59.620 And so he switches gears really quickly and he's like, well, let me pray over you. 00:07:59.720 --> 00:08:01.100 It's like, that's a good cover, you know. 00:08:01.380 --> 00:08:04.020 If you do something stupid, then you're just like, let me pray over you. 00:08:04.100 --> 00:08:05.260 I'm like, yeah, Eli's a nice guy. 00:08:05.820 --> 00:08:10.180 So Eli prayed a blessing over her and said, may God grant you your request. 00:08:11.560 --> 00:08:16.500 And so Hannah leaves and she does conceive and she gives birth to a son. 00:08:16.600 --> 00:08:17.640 She names him Samuel. 00:08:18.300 --> 00:08:24.860 And then she comes back to the temple and she presents Samuel to Eli. 00:08:25.080 --> 00:08:30.780 And she says, hey, do you remember I was the woman on the steps and, you know, you prayed 00:08:30.780 --> 00:08:31.360 over me. 00:08:31.740 --> 00:08:32.720 This is Samuel. 00:08:33.740 --> 00:08:35.320 That's a significant commitment. 00:08:35.520 --> 00:08:41.500 I just want to say my wife, Mindy, and I, we just celebrated 25 years of marriage. 00:08:41.740 --> 00:08:47.960 We were married for 10 years before our daughter, our daughter Maggie came along. 00:08:47.960 --> 00:08:52.480 And she is our miracle child, blessing from God. 00:08:52.800 --> 00:08:54.180 But she stays at my house. 00:08:54.480 --> 00:08:55.040 You know what I'm saying? 00:08:55.400 --> 00:08:57.300 I don't take her to somebody else to raise. 00:08:57.380 --> 00:08:58.380 She's at my house. 00:08:58.420 --> 00:09:02.380 So this is a significant commitment that Hannah makes. 00:09:02.580 --> 00:09:06.780 And it just reveals her devotion and dedication to God and her thanksgiving. 00:09:08.040 --> 00:09:16.760 So one other thing for background to know is that Eli, the priest, the Bible says that his 00:09:16.760 --> 00:09:19.100 sons were worthless men. 00:09:20.520 --> 00:09:20.940 Yikes. 00:09:21.100 --> 00:09:22.260 That's strong words. 00:09:22.440 --> 00:09:26.760 So they didn't say, you know, they're not the best or they have some room for improvement. 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:29.980 Scripture says his sons were worthless men. 00:09:29.980 --> 00:09:34.760 Says that he took, they took things for their own gain. 00:09:34.900 --> 00:09:37.140 They weren't pointing people towards the kingdom of God. 00:09:37.220 --> 00:09:39.420 They were, they were pointing people to themselves. 00:09:39.620 --> 00:09:43.960 They misused the offerings that were for the temple and offerings to God. 00:09:44.040 --> 00:09:49.160 And they had been warned, but they continually were selfish and evil people. 00:09:49.160 --> 00:09:51.100 And they did not know God. 00:09:51.420 --> 00:09:53.200 So that's Eli and his son. 00:09:53.280 --> 00:09:54.280 So that's the context. 00:09:54.440 --> 00:09:56.820 So first Samuel chapter three. 00:09:57.680 --> 00:10:03.680 And again, we're going to read this with an eye toward what does it look like to be, 00:10:03.700 --> 00:10:09.280 to be positioned, to posture ourself so that we can be in alignment with God through prayer. 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:11.820 So first Samuel chapter three, beginning in verse one. 00:10:12.340 --> 00:10:16.380 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. 00:10:16.740 --> 00:10:20.820 And the word of the Lord was rare in those days. 00:10:20.980 --> 00:10:23.160 There was no frequent vision. 00:10:23.320 --> 00:10:25.680 If you will jump down to verse seven. 00:10:25.680 --> 00:10:32.920 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 00:10:33.140 --> 00:10:35.540 So this is a very familiar passage. 00:10:35.720 --> 00:10:40.060 So what happens is Samuel lays down to go to sleep and God has a word for Samuel. 00:10:40.280 --> 00:10:42.280 So God calls Samuel, Samuel. 00:10:42.860 --> 00:10:44.420 Samuel did not yet know the Lord. 00:10:44.500 --> 00:10:46.380 And so he did not recognize the Lord's voice. 00:10:46.460 --> 00:10:50.560 So he stands up and he goes into Eli and he said, yes, Eli, you called. 00:10:50.680 --> 00:10:52.480 And Eli said, I didn't, I didn't call you. 00:10:52.960 --> 00:10:53.580 Go lay back down. 00:10:53.580 --> 00:10:58.080 And again, the voice of the Lord comes, Samuel. 00:10:58.740 --> 00:11:01.080 Again, Samuel doesn't recognize the Lord's voice. 00:11:01.220 --> 00:11:05.320 He jumps up and he runs into Eli and he says, Eli, you called. 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:07.800 And Eli said, I didn't call you. 00:11:07.880 --> 00:11:08.900 Go lay back down. 00:11:09.320 --> 00:11:14.120 And at this point, Eli probably thinks Samuel took after his mom, you know, and he's like, 00:11:14.180 --> 00:11:15.320 what's up with Samuel? 00:11:15.740 --> 00:11:16.720 You're hearing voices. 00:11:17.520 --> 00:11:20.020 Samuel goes, lays down a third time. 00:11:20.100 --> 00:11:21.520 God calls Samuel. 00:11:22.340 --> 00:11:24.080 Samuel gets up and goes into Eli. 00:11:24.260 --> 00:11:28.200 And finally now Eli perceives that God is speaking to Samuel. 00:11:29.040 --> 00:11:32.620 And so Eli really instructs him and helps him here. 00:11:32.640 --> 00:11:35.720 And he says, Samuel, God is speaking to you. 00:11:36.160 --> 00:11:37.660 So I want you to go lay down. 00:11:37.720 --> 00:11:40.720 And next time when you hear that voice, that's God. 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:46.040 I want you to say, speak, Lord, your servant hears or your servant is listening. 00:11:46.560 --> 00:11:49.080 And so sure enough, Samuel goes and he lays back down. 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:55.300 And again, the fourth time now scripture says that the Lord came and stood by Samuel and called 00:11:55.300 --> 00:11:57.540 out Samuel, Samuel. 00:11:57.820 --> 00:12:02.160 And this time with a little instruction, he was expecting God to speak, right? 00:12:02.220 --> 00:12:05.700 So he said, speak, Lord, your servant hears. 00:12:07.480 --> 00:12:10.280 So God had a word for Samuel. 00:12:10.440 --> 00:12:17.300 He says in verse 11, the Lord said to Samuel, behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at 00:12:17.300 --> 00:12:20.460 which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 00:12:21.080 --> 00:12:23.600 God definitely has a word for Samuel. 00:12:24.060 --> 00:12:26.720 And here's what God says to Samuel. 00:12:27.540 --> 00:12:35.900 I want you to go and talk to Eli and I want you to tell Eli that because of his sons and 00:12:35.900 --> 00:12:41.960 their lack of faithfulness, because of their evilness, I am going to bring down judgment 00:12:41.960 --> 00:12:46.180 on Eli, his sons and their whole family. 00:12:47.960 --> 00:12:48.360 Yikes. 00:12:48.920 --> 00:12:52.500 I don't know about you, but when God speaks to me, I like to like ramp up a little bit. 00:12:52.600 --> 00:12:57.020 Like, let's start easy, you know, give me something I can do easy and then get to the hard 00:12:57.020 --> 00:12:57.320 stuff. 00:12:57.320 --> 00:13:06.380 So Samuel has got to go tell Eli, who is raising him, his mentor, his discipler, his teacher, 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:14.580 his dad in some ways, Samuel's got to go tell Eli, yeah, God's going to bring down judgment 00:13:14.580 --> 00:13:15.100 on you. 00:13:16.160 --> 00:13:21.860 And so it says in verse 15, this is great, it says in verse 15 that Samuel lay there all 00:13:21.860 --> 00:13:22.300 night. 00:13:23.420 --> 00:13:24.460 Yeah, he did. 00:13:25.120 --> 00:13:27.980 He did not want to tell Eli, right? 00:13:27.980 --> 00:13:32.860 He probably was tossing and turning, trying to figure out how he could get out from telling 00:13:32.860 --> 00:13:36.800 Eli or even just trying to decide, how do I bring this up? 00:13:37.340 --> 00:13:40.580 You know, hey, Eli, could you pass the salt? 00:13:40.760 --> 00:13:43.740 By the way, God's going to bring destruction on you. 00:13:43.940 --> 00:13:45.580 So there you go. 00:13:46.260 --> 00:13:53.020 So he struggled all night and apparently he didn't want to tell Eli because in verse 17, 00:13:53.620 --> 00:13:58.620 Eli presses him and says, verse 17, what was it that he told you? 00:13:58.860 --> 00:14:00.360 Do not hide it from me. 00:14:00.360 --> 00:14:07.720 May God do so to you and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that he told you. 00:14:08.100 --> 00:14:12.780 So verse 18, so Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. 00:14:12.840 --> 00:14:19.620 Verse 19, and Samuel grew and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 00:14:22.100 --> 00:14:28.140 So if prayer is aligning ourselves with God, it's an attempt to be in alignment with God, 00:14:28.200 --> 00:14:32.900 to think what he thinks, to will what he wills, to desire what he desires, to see how he sees. 00:14:33.260 --> 00:14:38.660 If that is what prayer is, then how do we posture ourself to be in alignment with God? 00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:45.100 There are several, several truths that we can pull out of this passage, out of the scripture 00:14:45.100 --> 00:14:47.600 with regards to prayer. 00:14:47.800 --> 00:14:50.560 So how do I posture myself to be in alignment with God? 00:14:50.640 --> 00:14:55.280 The first thing is we must expect God to speak. 00:14:56.540 --> 00:14:58.840 We must expect him to speak. 00:15:00.140 --> 00:15:04.720 Not because we're great, not because we're so wonderful, but because God is great. 00:15:05.260 --> 00:15:10.760 And God has a history and a habit of speaking to his people. 00:15:11.500 --> 00:15:13.340 We could pull out dozens of passages. 00:15:13.580 --> 00:15:16.300 I've just pulled a few that came to my mind. 00:15:16.460 --> 00:15:18.420 Psalm 85, 8 says this, 00:15:18.820 --> 00:15:22.760 Let me hear what the Lord will speak, for he will speak to his people. 00:15:23.680 --> 00:15:24.940 Revelation 3, 22, 00:15:25.480 --> 00:15:29.680 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. 00:15:30.820 --> 00:15:31.840 John 10, 27, 00:15:32.020 --> 00:15:36.280 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me. 00:15:36.680 --> 00:15:39.500 God's voice is not an Old Testament phenomenon. 00:15:40.220 --> 00:15:41.980 It's not a New Testament phenomenon. 00:15:41.980 --> 00:15:45.260 It's not just an age-old experience. 00:15:45.900 --> 00:15:50.080 God still speaks today, right now. 00:15:50.460 --> 00:15:51.520 He is alive. 00:15:51.740 --> 00:15:52.900 He is at work. 00:15:53.160 --> 00:15:54.780 And he speaks to his church. 00:15:54.840 --> 00:15:56.260 And he speaks to his children. 00:15:56.680 --> 00:15:58.280 And so my question for you is, 00:15:58.460 --> 00:16:02.540 Do you believe that God still speaks? 00:16:04.300 --> 00:16:08.360 Listen, if we don't believe God still speaks, what are we doing here? 00:16:09.140 --> 00:16:15.080 Why would we spend our time reaching out to a God who has closed up shop? 00:16:17.080 --> 00:16:18.620 God still speaks. 00:16:18.620 --> 00:16:31.300 And let me also say that God doesn't just speak to your pastor or the hero missionary on the field or whoever spiritual leader you listen to their podcast. 00:16:31.760 --> 00:16:33.180 Sure, God speaks to them. 00:16:33.180 --> 00:16:34.940 But God also speaks to me. 00:16:34.940 --> 00:16:40.840 And God also speaks to you because you know him and you're in relationship with him. 00:16:41.240 --> 00:16:46.560 And he has historically always spoken to his people. 00:16:46.980 --> 00:16:50.580 So do you expect to hear from God? 00:16:52.940 --> 00:16:57.100 We recognize with Samuel, at first, he did not expect to hear from God. 00:16:57.100 --> 00:17:03.200 And he even heard the voice of the creator of the whole universe. 00:17:03.960 --> 00:17:06.340 And he just didn't have context for it. 00:17:06.540 --> 00:17:10.200 He didn't know because he didn't expect to hear his voice. 00:17:11.740 --> 00:17:14.320 So we must expect God to speak. 00:17:14.440 --> 00:17:24.520 The second thing that we can pull from this passage is that we must learn to recognize his voice. 00:17:25.540 --> 00:17:27.680 We must learn to recognize his voice. 00:17:27.740 --> 00:17:29.180 So it's one thing to expect him to speak. 00:17:29.280 --> 00:17:31.760 It's another thing to recognize when he speaks. 00:17:31.760 --> 00:17:41.060 And again, we see with Samuel, he heard his voice several times and didn't recognize his voice until Eli was able to disciple him in that. 00:17:41.140 --> 00:17:43.700 Say, okay, this voice you're hearing, that's God. 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:45.280 Here's how to respond, right? 00:17:45.460 --> 00:17:49.680 And so we must learn to recognize God's voice. 00:17:49.800 --> 00:17:52.940 And so I think this is true of non-believers. 00:17:53.160 --> 00:17:54.480 It's true of new Christians. 00:17:54.720 --> 00:17:59.580 It's true of someone who's been a follower of Jesus for 50 years. 00:17:59.580 --> 00:18:06.800 We all wrestle with this idea of, I'm trying to discern God's voice. 00:18:07.020 --> 00:18:09.000 Is this God's voice I'm hearing? 00:18:09.180 --> 00:18:10.920 Or is this just my opinion? 00:18:11.380 --> 00:18:13.160 Is this God speaking to me? 00:18:13.240 --> 00:18:18.260 Or is this some old accusation that I'm just going to trust in and I'm going to believe in? 00:18:18.460 --> 00:18:19.540 Is this God's voice? 00:18:19.620 --> 00:18:20.720 Is this the enemy's voice? 00:18:20.800 --> 00:18:21.800 Is this God's voice? 00:18:21.840 --> 00:18:23.840 Or is this just me feeling guilty about something? 00:18:25.020 --> 00:18:29.160 So how can we begin to familiarize ourself with God's voice? 00:18:29.280 --> 00:18:30.880 There's three thoughts I want to give you. 00:18:30.940 --> 00:18:36.700 These are three truths as we're trying to weigh and discern what does God's voice sound like. 00:18:36.780 --> 00:18:41.940 The first is that God will always speak with consistency and with continuity. 00:18:42.800 --> 00:18:45.680 God will always speak with consistency and continuity. 00:18:46.120 --> 00:18:46.800 So what does that mean? 00:18:46.800 --> 00:18:55.140 That means God will never speak in a way that disagrees with or is contradictory to who he has revealed himself to be. 00:18:55.500 --> 00:18:57.640 Who he has revealed himself to be in scripture. 00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:00.940 Who Jesus has revealed to be. 00:19:01.160 --> 00:19:02.700 How we have experienced God. 00:19:02.800 --> 00:19:07.900 God is not going to speak to me in a way that contradicts who he is. 00:19:08.120 --> 00:19:10.620 And that's a pretty easy one, right? 00:19:10.680 --> 00:19:12.820 I can come to you and I can tell you all kinds of things. 00:19:12.880 --> 00:19:14.300 Well, God told me this. 00:19:14.940 --> 00:19:19.300 And if it doesn't line up with who you know God to be and who scripture proclaims him to be 00:19:19.300 --> 00:19:21.540 and who he is revealed to be in the person of Jesus, 00:19:21.540 --> 00:19:26.400 then you can pretty well decide I'm mistaken, right? 00:19:28.520 --> 00:19:30.500 God will never call me to be selfish. 00:19:30.920 --> 00:19:33.180 God will never call me to oppress someone. 00:19:33.620 --> 00:19:40.200 God will never call me to wave the flag and shine the spotlight on me 00:19:40.200 --> 00:19:41.940 so I can have this glory. 00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:48.300 God will speak to me and God will speak to you with consistency and continuity. 00:19:48.400 --> 00:19:52.700 That's the first truth that we can begin to discern what his voice sounds like. 00:19:54.100 --> 00:19:58.420 The second is that God speaks in specifics. 00:20:01.020 --> 00:20:05.020 I want you to think about times in scripture where God speaks to people 00:20:05.020 --> 00:20:08.980 and how specific he was with them. 00:20:09.720 --> 00:20:15.680 I think about after Saul met Jesus on the Damascus road, 00:20:15.800 --> 00:20:17.400 he goes and waits in Damascus. 00:20:18.940 --> 00:20:22.420 And God speaks to Ananias about going and laying his hands on Saul. 00:20:22.500 --> 00:20:23.140 And he says, 00:20:23.740 --> 00:20:24.100 Ananias, 00:20:24.140 --> 00:20:29.340 I want you to go to the house of Judas on Straight Street. 00:20:29.860 --> 00:20:31.540 There's a man there named Saul. 00:20:31.660 --> 00:20:32.620 He's from Tarsus. 00:20:33.120 --> 00:20:38.080 And he's praying and he's seen a vision of a man named Ananias come and lay hands on him. 00:20:38.140 --> 00:20:40.860 That's very specific, right? 00:20:41.640 --> 00:20:42.300 He didn't say, 00:20:42.420 --> 00:20:45.880 I want you to go into Damascus and just be nice. 00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:46.660 You know, 00:20:46.740 --> 00:20:48.440 he spoke in specifics. 00:20:49.800 --> 00:20:53.580 I think about Joshua walking around Jericho. 00:20:54.580 --> 00:20:54.960 God says, 00:20:55.020 --> 00:20:58.900 I want you to walk around the city once a day for seven days. 00:20:58.960 --> 00:20:59.940 And on the seventh day, 00:20:59.980 --> 00:21:01.760 I want you to walk around seven times. 00:21:01.840 --> 00:21:02.800 I want you to blow your trumpet. 00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:03.060 I mean, 00:21:03.140 --> 00:21:04.500 very specific. 00:21:07.520 --> 00:21:10.100 Joseph was engaged to be married. 00:21:11.540 --> 00:21:12.800 God spoke to Joseph and said, 00:21:12.860 --> 00:21:14.040 I want you to take her as her, 00:21:14.220 --> 00:21:14.960 as your wife. 00:21:15.040 --> 00:21:16.560 She's going to give birth to a son. 00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:17.220 That's for me. 00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:19.280 I want you to name him Jesus. 00:21:20.040 --> 00:21:21.640 God still speaks. 00:21:22.220 --> 00:21:24.400 And he speaks in specifics. 00:21:26.780 --> 00:21:28.960 Are we expecting to hear from him? 00:21:29.480 --> 00:21:33.860 And can we recognize his voice when he actually speaks to us? 00:21:35.500 --> 00:21:41.620 The third truth is that God will always speak for his glory. 00:21:43.900 --> 00:21:49.320 And this goes along with him being consistent and speaking in continuity. 00:21:50.040 --> 00:21:53.180 God will always speak for his glory. 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:55.660 It'll be that his name is lifted up. 00:21:55.760 --> 00:21:59.340 It will be that he is proclaimed throughout my community. 00:21:59.480 --> 00:22:00.480 And throughout the nations. 00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:03.200 It will not be for your glory or my glory. 00:22:03.320 --> 00:22:04.400 It will be for his glory. 00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:07.480 But I believe that it will be for our good. 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:12.300 And it will be for the good of those whom he calls us to. 00:22:13.760 --> 00:22:15.640 So we have to expect God to speak. 00:22:15.940 --> 00:22:18.600 We have to learn to recognize his voice. 00:22:20.220 --> 00:22:32.960 And this really pours fuel on the second thought. 00:22:33.160 --> 00:22:35.080 As we respond with obedience. 00:22:35.520 --> 00:22:39.240 It really pours some fuel on that recognizing his voice. 00:22:40.040 --> 00:22:44.460 Because I have found that the more I am obedient to his voice. 00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:49.980 The more I'm tuned in to what his voice sounds like. 00:22:50.900 --> 00:22:53.220 The more I'm obedient. 00:22:53.440 --> 00:22:54.780 The louder his voice gets. 00:22:54.860 --> 00:22:56.740 And the more unmistakable it gets. 00:22:58.040 --> 00:22:59.680 So now hang with me a second. 00:23:00.720 --> 00:23:03.880 Right now this room could be filled with music. 00:23:05.500 --> 00:23:08.500 It could be filled with the sounds of a symphony. 00:23:10.260 --> 00:23:11.760 And so all we would have to do. 00:23:12.500 --> 00:23:15.380 Is to plug a radio in. 00:23:16.380 --> 00:23:20.020 And to tune it to the appropriate frequency. 00:23:21.360 --> 00:23:22.600 And we hear music. 00:23:23.060 --> 00:23:23.240 Right? 00:23:24.500 --> 00:23:27.140 So music right now is playing. 00:23:28.280 --> 00:23:30.540 And it's within our reach this music. 00:23:31.680 --> 00:23:33.940 But we've got to be tuned into it. 00:23:34.100 --> 00:23:34.240 Right? 00:23:34.440 --> 00:23:36.260 So that's how a radio station works. 00:23:36.400 --> 00:23:38.800 They don't just all of a sudden start playing music. 00:23:38.960 --> 00:23:40.580 When you decide to turn it on. 00:23:40.660 --> 00:23:41.660 The music's been playing. 00:23:42.260 --> 00:23:42.460 Right? 00:23:43.140 --> 00:23:46.740 So as we are obedient to God. 00:23:46.780 --> 00:23:49.880 As we actually do what he's called us to do. 00:23:51.240 --> 00:23:55.400 For me it sharpens that tuning. 00:23:55.400 --> 00:23:58.700 It sharpens that connection with God. 00:23:58.780 --> 00:24:00.500 That alignment with God. 00:24:01.460 --> 00:24:03.780 And it just raises the volume. 00:24:04.840 --> 00:24:07.440 Now if I hear God's voice and I ignore it. 00:24:07.620 --> 00:24:09.380 I hear God's voice and I just. 00:24:09.480 --> 00:24:09.760 Ah. 00:24:09.960 --> 00:24:10.920 I don't want to do that. 00:24:11.000 --> 00:24:12.220 I'm afraid to do that. 00:24:12.260 --> 00:24:13.540 And I begin to ignore it. 00:24:13.600 --> 00:24:14.500 And I'm not obedient. 00:24:14.880 --> 00:24:17.120 I think it gets harder to hear his voice. 00:24:17.260 --> 00:24:18.920 I believe God still speaks. 00:24:19.320 --> 00:24:20.560 God is still faithful. 00:24:20.560 --> 00:24:23.400 But I think the more that I am obedient. 00:24:24.040 --> 00:24:29.500 The louder and more unmistakable his voice gets. 00:24:31.640 --> 00:24:34.060 And as we hear the voice of God. 00:24:34.160 --> 00:24:37.980 The only appropriate response is what Eli instructed Samuel. 00:24:38.700 --> 00:24:39.520 Speak Lord. 00:24:39.760 --> 00:24:40.740 Your servant hears. 00:24:40.860 --> 00:24:41.720 Or yes Lord. 00:24:41.860 --> 00:24:42.440 Here am I. 00:24:44.840 --> 00:24:47.920 I was in a restaurant with my wife Mindy. 00:24:48.200 --> 00:24:49.540 A couple of years ago. 00:24:49.720 --> 00:24:50.220 We serve. 00:24:50.360 --> 00:24:51.540 Before we come into South Carolina. 00:24:51.700 --> 00:24:53.380 We serve through the North American Mission Board. 00:24:54.040 --> 00:24:57.320 Served an inner city community in Des Moines, Iowa. 00:24:57.680 --> 00:24:59.220 It was a poverty impacted community. 00:24:59.360 --> 00:25:00.560 We ran a ministry center there. 00:25:01.240 --> 00:25:02.860 And this one season in our time there. 00:25:03.140 --> 00:25:04.040 We had a new boss. 00:25:04.660 --> 00:25:07.260 And so this new boss took us to lunch. 00:25:07.900 --> 00:25:09.080 To get to know us. 00:25:09.120 --> 00:25:10.040 To tell us his vision. 00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:11.360 He wanted to hear about our ministry. 00:25:11.700 --> 00:25:13.620 And kind of what we were trying to accomplish. 00:25:13.840 --> 00:25:15.640 And so it was an important meeting. 00:25:15.780 --> 00:25:15.880 Right. 00:25:15.920 --> 00:25:16.820 It was our first meeting. 00:25:16.940 --> 00:25:18.440 Really first time sitting down with him. 00:25:19.220 --> 00:25:20.480 And so we're sitting there at lunch. 00:25:21.340 --> 00:25:22.340 Having a conversation. 00:25:23.220 --> 00:25:26.100 And my wife Mindy was just distracted. 00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:28.880 She was just not part of the conversation. 00:25:29.040 --> 00:25:29.900 It was really odd. 00:25:30.360 --> 00:25:32.020 But she just wasn't with us. 00:25:33.140 --> 00:25:35.120 And so it got so bad. 00:25:35.120 --> 00:25:36.620 That eventually she said. 00:25:36.760 --> 00:25:37.980 I'm sorry if you'll excuse me. 00:25:38.040 --> 00:25:39.080 I'll be right back. 00:25:39.460 --> 00:25:40.900 And so then I'm worried about her. 00:25:40.920 --> 00:25:41.080 Right. 00:25:41.140 --> 00:25:42.860 Because I think she's sick or something. 00:25:43.080 --> 00:25:44.080 So she gets up. 00:25:44.120 --> 00:25:45.280 And she walks around the table. 00:25:45.420 --> 00:25:47.400 Our boss was facing us. 00:25:48.140 --> 00:25:51.120 And so I'm trying to like watch. 00:25:51.240 --> 00:25:52.580 What is Mindy doing? 00:25:52.860 --> 00:25:55.180 And trying to pretend to listen to my boss. 00:25:55.620 --> 00:25:56.500 And that's hard. 00:25:56.600 --> 00:25:57.800 That's harder to do than you think. 00:25:58.040 --> 00:25:59.880 But I don't think he knew she left. 00:26:00.040 --> 00:26:00.760 He was just talking. 00:26:00.880 --> 00:26:02.960 Like he was just still going. 00:26:03.960 --> 00:26:04.580 And so I'm watching her. 00:26:04.700 --> 00:26:05.780 And she walks over. 00:26:05.980 --> 00:26:08.360 She just walks like straight up to this table. 00:26:08.480 --> 00:26:09.660 There were three ladies sitting there. 00:26:09.760 --> 00:26:11.540 And she just starts talking to them. 00:26:11.640 --> 00:26:12.620 And I'm like, you know. 00:26:13.420 --> 00:26:15.000 It's an adventure with Mindy. 00:26:15.100 --> 00:26:15.780 I'll just say. 00:26:15.940 --> 00:26:16.960 It's never dull. 00:26:17.160 --> 00:26:17.700 Like we're doing. 00:26:17.740 --> 00:26:18.580 I don't know what we're doing. 00:26:18.680 --> 00:26:19.520 But let's do it. 00:26:19.660 --> 00:26:20.980 So I'm trying to listen to him. 00:26:21.040 --> 00:26:21.580 And watching her. 00:26:21.740 --> 00:26:22.400 And she bends down. 00:26:22.500 --> 00:26:23.580 Starts talking to these ladies. 00:26:24.200 --> 00:26:25.220 And then all of a sudden. 00:26:25.340 --> 00:26:27.060 All three women at the table. 00:26:27.240 --> 00:26:28.860 Just burst into tears. 00:26:29.700 --> 00:26:30.840 I'm like, well, great. 00:26:31.400 --> 00:26:32.400 We've done it now. 00:26:32.580 --> 00:26:34.020 We're going to get kicked out of this joint. 00:26:34.100 --> 00:26:34.280 Right. 00:26:36.620 --> 00:26:37.900 She talks to him for a few minutes. 00:26:38.220 --> 00:26:39.100 Comes, sits back down. 00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:40.400 And she's part of the conversation. 00:26:40.540 --> 00:26:41.360 And we're talking. 00:26:41.520 --> 00:26:43.960 And we've finished the conversation with our boss. 00:26:44.160 --> 00:26:46.580 And so I'm like, what in the world happened? 00:26:46.740 --> 00:26:46.900 Right. 00:26:48.560 --> 00:26:50.500 She said, God was just talking to me. 00:26:50.660 --> 00:26:53.100 And I knew he was calling me to do something. 00:26:53.360 --> 00:26:53.880 And I just. 00:26:54.480 --> 00:26:55.660 That's why I was distracted. 00:26:56.080 --> 00:26:59.900 So what happened was she goes over to this table with these ladies. 00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:02.540 And she says something like this. 00:27:03.520 --> 00:27:04.320 Excuse me. 00:27:04.460 --> 00:27:05.400 I'm sorry to bother you. 00:27:05.480 --> 00:27:06.360 My name is Mindy. 00:27:07.480 --> 00:27:08.320 I'm a Christian. 00:27:08.820 --> 00:27:10.660 And sometimes God speaks to me. 00:27:11.620 --> 00:27:13.580 And I need you to know this today. 00:27:14.680 --> 00:27:15.960 God loves you. 00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:17.880 God is with you. 00:27:19.060 --> 00:27:20.400 And you're going to be okay. 00:27:21.080 --> 00:27:23.680 To which all three ladies burst out crying. 00:27:24.540 --> 00:27:28.820 And they were crying because the lady Mindy was speaking to had just received a cancer diagnosis. 00:27:29.820 --> 00:27:33.720 And her two friends just took her out to lunch to be an encouragement to her. 00:27:33.820 --> 00:27:35.000 To say, we support you. 00:27:35.040 --> 00:27:35.800 We're with you. 00:27:36.360 --> 00:27:38.820 And she was starting her treatments the next day. 00:27:40.020 --> 00:27:56.800 And how good is God that he would take such gentle care of this woman in the middle of a restaurant, in the middle of heaviness, that God saw fit to speak. 00:27:57.220 --> 00:28:00.400 And he said, I'm just going to touch you today. 00:28:00.460 --> 00:28:05.620 I'm going to bring you my goodness today, my blessings, my compassion today. 00:28:05.920 --> 00:28:09.940 And he did that through somebody else in the restaurant. 00:28:10.780 --> 00:28:15.760 And so Mindy was expecting God to speak. 00:28:16.580 --> 00:28:23.500 And we didn't sit down at our lunch and we're talking with our boss and she thought God was going to say something to her in that moment. 00:28:23.680 --> 00:28:31.780 But her general rule of life, the way she has aligned herself said, I expect that God's going to speak. 00:28:32.640 --> 00:28:34.540 And so I'm going to listen for his voice. 00:28:36.420 --> 00:28:40.900 And I'm going to recognize his voice because I've heard it over and over. 00:28:41.000 --> 00:28:44.860 And I've been obedient to his voice over and over. 00:28:46.640 --> 00:28:52.560 And in the midst of our really important meeting, God spoke. 00:28:56.060 --> 00:29:00.020 And I just ask you, do you believe that God speaks? 00:29:01.740 --> 00:29:05.380 For some in this room, you may not know Jesus. 00:29:07.600 --> 00:29:12.940 And maybe right now, you're sensing God speak to you, maybe for the first time. 00:29:13.620 --> 00:29:17.860 If you don't know Jesus, I want you to hear me say, he knows you. 00:29:18.700 --> 00:29:24.600 And he is pursuing you, not to do you harm, but for your good. 00:29:25.340 --> 00:29:32.760 He is welcoming you and offering you an opportunity into the family of God to call you son and daughter, 00:29:33.120 --> 00:29:36.900 to bring you forgiveness, to bring you hope for a future. 00:29:37.960 --> 00:29:43.200 So if you don't know God and your pulse is quickening and maybe your heart rate is up 00:29:43.200 --> 00:29:49.200 and you're hearing a voice that sounds a lot like love, that sounds a lot like forgiveness, 00:29:49.640 --> 00:29:51.860 I want to do for you what Eli did for Samuel. 00:29:52.040 --> 00:29:53.660 That is God's voice. 00:29:54.620 --> 00:29:57.700 And the most appropriate response is speak, Lord, I'm listening. 00:29:58.240 --> 00:30:01.000 And then to be obedient with whatever he's calling you to do. 00:30:02.940 --> 00:30:16.180 And for others in the room that maybe have known God for years and years, let me just remind you that we will never experience the fullness of God without a life aligned with him in prayer. 00:30:16.740 --> 00:30:17.980 We just won't. 00:30:18.400 --> 00:30:19.700 We will be anemic. 00:30:20.080 --> 00:30:21.500 We will have no power. 00:30:21.920 --> 00:30:24.160 And we can go to church Sunday after Sunday. 00:30:24.700 --> 00:30:30.220 We can do all, you know, check the box and do all the right things and not do all the wrong things. 00:30:30.220 --> 00:30:40.880 But we will be missing a deep and abiding relationship with the creator of the universe if we are not aligned with God through prayer. 00:30:41.000 --> 00:30:42.440 So let me ask you this. 00:30:43.860 --> 00:30:47.180 How are you aligning yourself with God? 00:30:47.920 --> 00:30:49.200 Are you spending time in his word? 00:30:49.320 --> 00:30:50.600 Are you spending time in prayer? 00:30:50.660 --> 00:30:52.200 Are you meditating on his word? 00:30:52.520 --> 00:31:00.240 Are you surrounding yourself with other believers who, like Eli did for Samuel, help point you to God, help you discern God's voice? 00:31:00.720 --> 00:31:03.180 How are you aligning yourself with God in prayer? 00:31:03.520 --> 00:31:06.820 My challenge for you is that you would answer that question this week. 00:31:07.440 --> 00:31:14.500 That you would just get alone and find some moments with God and just be honest with yourself. 00:31:14.620 --> 00:31:16.580 How are you aligning yourself with him? 00:31:18.360 --> 00:31:20.140 And then my last question is this. 00:31:21.500 --> 00:31:27.620 How is God calling you to display his love in your community? 00:31:30.720 --> 00:31:38.980 When God speaks to us, it's for his glory, it's for our good, but I'm confident it's for the good of those around us. 00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:51.960 One of my biggest fears is that I will receive God's grace, his mercy, his compassion, his forgiveness, his love, his hope. 00:31:52.120 --> 00:31:56.340 I'll just receive and receive and receive all these things from God. 00:31:56.340 --> 00:32:00.180 And then I will never let those flow through me into my community. 00:32:00.720 --> 00:32:09.120 That's a fear that I'm going to allow God's love to stop with me. 00:32:09.920 --> 00:32:13.380 I'm going to allow his voice to end with me. 00:32:14.080 --> 00:32:17.180 We are called to love God and to love other people. 00:32:17.580 --> 00:32:18.980 That's the abundant life. 00:32:20.720 --> 00:32:25.800 And so how is God moving you into your community to love your community? 00:32:25.800 --> 00:32:29.200 To display God's hope and God's goodness and God's forgiveness? 00:32:34.000 --> 00:32:36.280 We must expect God to speak. 00:32:37.000 --> 00:32:43.860 And we've got to tune in and begin to familiarize ourself and begin to recognize his voice. 00:32:44.000 --> 00:32:48.820 And then when we hear the voice of God, we've got to respond with obedience. 00:32:49.000 --> 00:32:57.480 And I promise you, as you respond with obedience, his voice gets louder and gets louder and gets louder and more unmistakable. 00:32:58.340 --> 00:33:01.080 And I'll say this, I have not figured this out. 00:33:01.260 --> 00:33:07.940 I'm not up here because I'm some expert on prayer and my life is perfectly aligned with God. 00:33:09.200 --> 00:33:11.300 We're all works in progress. 00:33:11.600 --> 00:33:13.540 We're all moving towards him. 00:33:13.780 --> 00:33:20.480 But I do promise you that if you will listen for his voice and begin to be obedient to the things that he calls you to, 00:33:21.360 --> 00:33:22.920 you will find that alignment. 00:33:23.380 --> 00:33:26.540 And that is the purpose of being alive. 00:33:28.100 --> 00:33:33.620 That we would think his thoughts, desire the things he desires, will the things he wills, 00:33:33.800 --> 00:33:39.840 love the things and the people he loves, that we would begin to see life from his point of view. 00:33:40.820 --> 00:33:41.920 That's my prayer for you. 00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:43.360 Let me pray for us as we close. 00:33:48.680 --> 00:33:52.340 God, I'm so grateful that you love us. 00:33:52.540 --> 00:33:55.080 I'm so grateful that you're patient with us. 00:33:55.900 --> 00:34:03.040 We could all give testimony around this room of how we have ignored your voice. 00:34:03.240 --> 00:34:07.180 We've missed your voice or we've just chosen to be disobedient to your voice. 00:34:07.300 --> 00:34:08.480 But yet you still speak. 00:34:08.760 --> 00:34:10.040 You still call to us. 00:34:10.200 --> 00:34:13.600 You pursue us not to do us harm, but for our good. 00:34:13.600 --> 00:34:21.340 And we're grateful that you are so kind, compassionate, loving, that you would offer us such grace and such mercy. 00:34:22.240 --> 00:34:25.540 God, I pray over these in this room. 00:34:25.700 --> 00:34:31.200 God, I pray that you would speak loudly to them, God. 00:34:31.340 --> 00:34:36.180 That they would begin to orient themselves. 00:34:36.320 --> 00:34:39.060 That they would begin to tune into your voice, God. 00:34:39.060 --> 00:34:40.700 And that they would be bold. 00:34:41.160 --> 00:34:43.120 That they would be confident. 00:34:43.360 --> 00:34:47.380 That they would move with courage, whatever it is you called them toward. 00:34:48.860 --> 00:34:50.580 Help us to discern your voice, God. 00:34:50.620 --> 00:34:53.060 And just give us the courage to be obedient where you call. 00:34:53.460 --> 00:34:54.760 God, I pray for this community. 00:34:54.980 --> 00:35:07.420 God, I pray that our neighbors, that our school system, that those we encounter at work, those in our family. 00:35:07.420 --> 00:35:11.640 God, they would experience you because we have listened to your voice. 00:35:12.120 --> 00:35:15.220 They would experience you because we have been obedient. 00:35:15.900 --> 00:35:21.500 That they would experience a touch from you because we have so aligned ourself with you. 00:35:21.600 --> 00:35:24.860 That it is just the natural expression of our life. 00:35:25.020 --> 00:35:30.180 That we would walk step for step in sync and in alignment with you. 00:35:30.300 --> 00:35:31.820 May we do that, Lord Jesus. 00:35:31.820 --> 00:35:37.240 And we're thankful and grateful for your patience with us as we do. 00:35:38.980 --> 00:35:40.320 It's in Jesus' name we pray. 00:35:40.320 --> 00:35:40.760 Amen. 00:35:40.760 --> 00:35:40.760 Amen. 00:35:40.760 --> 00:35:58.440 Thanks again for listening to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:35:58.440 --> 00:36:01.060 We hope that you enjoyed listening to this week's message. 00:36:01.640 --> 00:36:10.100 If you'd like to learn more about who we are or explore additional resources, visit us online at www.willowridgechurch.com 00:36:10.100 --> 00:36:13.660 or by searching for Willow Ridge Church on Facebook and Instagram. 00:36:13.660 --> 00:36:25.740 We'll see you next time. 00:36:25.760 --> 00:36:55.740 Thank you.