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This podcast is a production of Watermark Community Church in Dallas, Texas, USA. Watermark exists to be and make more fully devoted followers of Christ, looking to God's Word as our only authority, conscience and guide.
**Timothy Ateek:** Good morning, Watermark. How are we doing today? Hey, it's good to see you. I'm so glad you made it. If this is your first time ever with us on a Sunday, I genuinely hope this is a place and this is a morning where you will take a step with Jesus Christ. It's a different morning for us. It's a special morning, because not only are we having church right now, we're also having Awaken right now.
So, if you're an Awaken attendee, welcome to church. Welcome to Watermark. If you are part of the Watermark family, welcome to Awaken. Two things are happening at the same time right now, and that's an incredible thing. If you're an Awaken attendee, here's my hope for you. Just by joining us for church this morning, I hope you would understand that Jesus Christ came not to just save you from your sin but to save you into a family with brothers and sisters in the faith.
So, if you don't belong to a church family, if you live in Dallas, come be a part of Watermark. If you don't live in Dallas, then go home and plug in. The Christian life was never meant to be lived alone but with the people of God. This morning, I'm so excited, because you're going to get to hear from my friend David Platt. If you're not familiar with David, he is the lead pastor of McLean Bible Church in the Washington, D.C., area.
He is an author. He's the founder and leader of Radical, which is a ministry committed to taking Jesus everywhere to the end of the earth. He's married to Heather. They have kids. Here's what I would say about David. In the time I've spent with him over the last several years… First, he is the real deal. There are people that when you get around them, their love for Jesus is genuine and contagious. Anytime I get to be around David, I leave wanting to know Jesus more intimately.
The second thing I would share about him is God used David's voice in my life back in 2019 to open my eyes to the responsibility I have in taking the gospel to the end of the earth. If you belong to Watermark, you've heard me talk about us being a sending church. We feel a weight and responsibility for the gospel to go to those in the world who do not have it yet. You just need to know that God used David in my life as a shaping force as I understood my responsibility with the Great Commission.
The last thing I'd say about David before I bring him up here is if you are one of those people who loves the tubs… The tubs were with us last Sunday. I got the tubs from David Platt. So, if you love the tubs, you love David Platt. So, would you do an incredible job this morning of welcoming David Platt to Watermark Community Church?
I just want to take a moment and pray. Let's pray, just like we do every Sunday morning. If you're with us for the first time, here's what I want to invite you to do. We believe that when we open up God's Word, it's like we're opening up his mouth, and we can hear from him. So, would you pray for yourself and say, "God, would you speak to me this morning?" Then, would you pray for the people around you and ask God to speak to them as well? Then, would you pray for David and ask God to speak through him to you?
Holy Spirit, I just want to ask and pray that right now you would lead and guide us into all truth. Would you illuminate our hearts and our minds as the Word of God is taught? I pray that Christ would be glorified this morning. Lord, we need you. We love you. If there's anyone in this room right now who does not have a real relationship with Jesus Christ, then I pray right now that their eyes would be opened to the wonderful reality of knowing Christ. Lord, would you have your way in this room right now? We need you. We love you. Amen.
**David Platt:** If you have a Bible, let me invite you to open with me to Isaiah, chapter 55. While you're turning, I want to say a few things. First, I thank God for your pastor, TA. It's interesting. As he was sharing about me… Ever since the first moment I met him years ago, I have seen in TA a humility, wisdom, courage, compassion, and gentle boldness that reflect Jesus, and I'm so thankful for his encouragement and example in my life. I trust you know, as a church family, God's grace and favor on you to be served and shepherded by him.
Secondly, I want to thank God for the fruit of this church far beyond this church, including in _my_ church family. Countless married couples in metro Washington, D.C., have experienced restoration from brokenness through re|engage, and countless individuals have experienced that transformation through re:gen. That's the fruit of God's grace from this place. Shout-out to my niece Lydia, who is part of this church and serves on the team that makes all that possible.
That leads to number three. I thank God for Kylen and the entire Porch team for leading a young adult ministry that goes far beyond this place. I'm honored that he invited me to be a part of this conference this weekend. I'm so encouraged by him personally and by his team's commitment to pray and to prepare a conference that is focused on pleading for God to move in a way that only he can get glory by his Spirit.
G. Campbell Morgan said, "We cannot organize revival, but we can set our sails to catch the wind from heaven when God chooses to blow upon his people once again." This team has set the sails in a way that I am praying God might blow in a fresh way this morning. That leads to the last thing I want to say before we dive into the Word.
I want to let you know where the next few minutes are headed, because this sermon is definitely not the main event of this service today. I would say the main event is coming a few minutes from now when each one of you is going to have an opportunity to respond to an invitation from God to seek him with all your heart across this gathering.
I am confident that every person within the sound of my voice needs to seek God today. Some of you, as TA was praying, need to seek God for salvation in your life. Some of you need to seek God through honest confession of sin. Some of you need to seek God for help or guidance or healing, spiritually, physically, emotionally, relationally. I am 100 percent confident that everybody in this gathering desperately needs to cry out to God in some way today, but not all of you will choose to do so.
So, a few minutes from now, this room will divide into two groups: participants and observers. One group will seek God passionately, and the other group will observe others passively. Those are the only two possible options. Some of you will choose to seek God passionately by calling out to him in praise, in thanksgiving, in confession, in repentance, crying out for his help in your life or on behalf of others' lives.
Others of you will choose to watch, to observe people around you seeking God, but you won't seek God yourself, for any number of reasons. Some of you will be afraid of what others might think of you if you were to start crying out to God. Some of you will be afraid of what might happen in your life if you truly seek God. Some of you will say to yourself, "Maybe I'll seek God later. I'm just not ready right now."
I could go on and on, but for a variety of reasons, some of you will choose to observe rather than participate. To be clear, please note what is not an option: seeking God casually, because that is impossible. When you truly encounter God, you either bow and worship or turn and run. So, before we go any farther, now that you know where we're headed, I want to pray specifically for that moment that all of this word from God is about to lead us to. So, will you bow your heads with me one more time?
God, we have already prayed that you would speak to us, and we need your help. We can't see and we can't hear spiritually without your help, Holy Spirit. So, yes, please, please speak to us. Please help us to hear. Open our ears and our eyes, and then, we pray, help us to respond in passionate, wholehearted, honest, humble, seriously joyful, Spirit-directed, Christ-centered seeking after you and encountering you today in ways we will not soon forget. Only you can do that, so we pray that you would do it. In Jesus' name, amen.
Okay. Here we go. Isaiah 55. If you had asked me just a couple of days ago what text we would be in right now, this would not have been it, but as I prayed for you over the last couple of days, this text and one other kept coming to my mind, and I couldn't decide between them, so I'm going to preach both today at separate services.
So, if you want to come back for round two in the next service, you're welcome, as we're going to look at _The Curse of Cultural Christianity_ in Mark 11. Here, if I was to give a title to _this_ message from Isaiah 55, it would be "An Invitation to Intimate Communion." I mentioned earlier that God is inviting every one of you today to seek him passionately and wholeheartedly.
All I want to do for the next few minutes is super simple. I just want to show you how this invitation is coming straight from him to you right where you're sitting, because I'm confident that if you will hear God speaking clearly, like we have prayed, then you _will_ respond passionately. You won't be able to help yourself.
So, if you're taking notes, I just want to show you 10 characteristics of God's invitation to you today, and we're going to fly through them. The first one is _personal_. God's invitation to you is personal. Look with me at Isaiah 55:1. As I read, just count. Maybe circle or make a note of how many imperative verbs and commands, personal invitations, God gives in just the first three verses. I'll underline them as we go.
**"Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David."**
How many did you count? Did anybody count? Okay. I counted 14 personal invitations in three verses. Then, jump down to verse 6 with me. We'll come back to verses 4 and 5 in a minute. See all of these invitations summarized. **"Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near…"** To be clear, this is not a game of hide-and-seek, where God is hiding and we have to find him. No, he is near to you. In other words, he is here. God is here.
This word _seek_ is emphasizing the personal manner by which we approach God. I've already said multiple times, "Seek God passionately and wholeheartedly." There are so many places we see this in the Bible. Let me show you two. One is from Jeremiah 29. Look at verses 12-14. Very similar language to Isaiah 55. God saying, **"Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart."** "That's when I will be found by you, when you seek me with all your heart."
The other place I'll show you is back here in the Psalms. Psalm 27:4: **"One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple."** To seek after God is to make gazing upon his beauty the one thing you want above everything. Is that true in your life? Is it evident in your life, from the moment you get up to the moment you go to bed, that the one thing that drives you more than anything is "I just want to see God and inquire in his temple, to talk with him"?
Look at verse 8 in the same chapter. The psalmist says to God, **"You have said, 'Seek my face.' My heart says to you, 'Your face, Lord, do I seek.'"** Do you see this personal invitation to you from God to seek his face? This invitation is for everybody. That's the second characteristic of God's invitation. It's _universal_. Meaning, it's for everybody without exception. You see that word from the very beginning of Isaiah 55. "Come, everybody."
We skipped over verses 4 and 5. Let's go back and read them. **"Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you."** There is a ton here we don't have time to talk about today, but you see this emphasis on _peoples_ twice and _nations_ twice.
The point is this invitation is not just for the people of God known as _Israel_ in the Old Testament. This is for people from every nation, from every people group. There are over 150 different nationalities represented in Dallas, Texas. There are many more people groups than that, and God is inviting all of them…Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, Asian, 50,000 Telugu in Dallas, 30,000 Tamil, 20,000 Gujaratis. Everybody from every ethnicity, come and be filled up, seeking God, because…don't miss this…the Lord is seeking you.
That's the third characteristic of God's invitation. It is _passionate_. I'm talking about passionate from _his_ perspective. You have to see this. Turn back one chapter to Isaiah 54. Again, there's so much in this section of Isaiah that we don't have time to talk about, but I want you to hear the way God describes his relationship with his people, with the people who know him and believe in him.
Look at Isaiah 54:5. **"For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. For the Lord has called you…"** Did you hear that? I don't think you did because it was really quiet. Your Maker, your Creator, the one who formed you and eight billion other people in the world, just described himself as a husband to his people. As a husband seeks a wife, so God seeks you.
I think about when I was a junior in high school and totally socially awkward. There was this girl who started visiting our church, and I totally noticed her. All of the other guys were going after her. I began to seek her in a way that when she would turn around from all of those other guys, she would see me in all my social awkwardness. It worked. I got her to notice me. I think about the day when I joined my life with hers, when I became her husband, the second greatest day of my life, only behind the day when I realized that God passionately pursues and loves me like that. Like a husband loves and pursues a wife? Are you kidding?
Here's why this is so important, and it's the reason so many of you are not passionately, wholeheartedly seeking God as the one thing in your life, why so many of you are settling for casually seeking God along with a million other things in this world, why you're settling for cultural Christianity, which I'll talk about more in the next service.
Here's the reason: because you don't see God passionately seeking _you_ every day, you don't passionately seek _God_ every day. I want to confess that I have been there. I've lived for years there, not just as a Christian but as a pastor. I was meeting one day with a counselor to work through some things in my own heart and life, a great brother in him, Jason, who loves the gospel, and he asked me a question.
He said, "David, when you come before God in prayer or worship, how do you view God coming to you?" I thought for a while about my honest answer to that question, and I realized, "While I know in my head that God loves me, and I preach all the time that God loves us, if I'm honest, in my heart, I most often view God as disappointed in me for my sin that I keep going back to, for my lack of faith. I could be doing so much more."
I shared that with Jason. He said, "I thought so." He said, "I think about nine out of every ten Christians view God in a similar way to that." Satan is having a field day, telling people and pastors just like you and me that God is disappointed with us, distant from us, even just sitting back to see if we'll come to him like we should, if we'll get things right. I am here today to show you God himself saying that is a lie.
Look with me at Isaiah 62:5. **"For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you."** John Owen, a Puritan theologian from the 1600s, wrote a book called _Communion With the Triune God_. He talks about this verse, and he says that for a married man, there's no height of ecstasy like what he feels on the day he gets married. Then he says, "That is how God feels about his people every day."
Here's the quote: "\[God's\] heart is glad in us, without sorrow. And every day whilst we live is his wedding day." That sounds so flowery to me, but it comes from a 400-page theological tome on the Trinity. Do you believe this? Do you believe this word from God? See it. Hear it coming straight from him. Your Maker is your husband. The "Lord of Heavenly Armies" is his name. The Holy One who reigns supreme is holy, holy, holy (we sung to him today), incomparable in glory, in majesty, in splendor, the God of the whole earth.
The God who reigns sovereign over 8 billion people and 7.5 quintillion grains of sand on the land and 2 trillion galaxies of septillion stars in the sky… _This_ God looks at you, right where you are sitting, like a husband looks at his bride, and every day is like a wedding day for him when he sees you.
That'll change what you see when you look in the mirror in the morning, and that will free you from looking to anyone else or anything else in this world to find your identity when you realize who you are in him, at which point you might say, "But I _have_ disappointed God. I've messed up in so many ways. He has so much reason to be disappointed in me," to which God says, "Yeah. That's the point."
Next characteristic of his invitation: it's _costly_. God says, "I know all your sin. I know every sinful thought, desire, word, action, and interaction. I know your sin more than _you_ do. You _think_ you know it. There's so much more." But did you notice what he said in the first verses we read? **"Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price."**
How do you do that? Try to go to lunch today and buy your food with no money. It's clearly an invitation to buy something. The problem is you don't have any money to buy it with. So, who's going to pay for this? I'm glad you asked. Who in the world can pay the price to cover over sin before a holy God? Because the payment for sin is death…eternal, everlasting death. Who can pay that price so that sinners can live in intimate communion with God? Two chapters before this, in Isaiah 53, we read this promise about Jesus the Christ:
**"Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."**
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the greatest news in all the world. Jesus, God in the flesh, has come to us to live the life we could not live, a life of no sin. Then, even though he had no sin for which to die, he chose to bear our griefs and carry our sorrows, to be pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities, to take the chastisement due us upon himself. We've all turned to our own ways, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He has paid the price of death for sinners everywhere.
Then you keep going. Isaiah 53:10: **"…when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand."** How is that possible for someone who dies to see his offspring and have prolonged days? Verse 11: **"Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities."**
Whoa! This is what makes it the greatest news in the world, because the Savior who died for sin is not dead anymore. He is alive, and for all who trust in him, all their sin is covered, and they are accounted righteous before God and welcomed into intimate relationship with God, not because of anything we do but only because of what he has done for us.
So, I'll go back. You had that picture of my wife. I'm going to flip the analogy a little bit. When we got married… She's a year older than me, so she had graduated college and gotten a job as a teacher. I was still in college, which meant for that year before we got married, she had cash flow, and I had no cash flow. She ate normal food; I ate ramen noodles most meals. So, that was the year before we got married.
Then we stood in front of a church building one day. We united our lives together. On that day, I received so many amazing things, most important being a beautiful, Jesus-loving wife. But do you know what else I received on that day? Cash flow. It was great. Standing there, I had nothing in my bank account. I said two words: "I do." She said the same. At that moment, everything that belonged to her became mine. I didn't have to go teach her class. I didn't have to go wipe their snotty noses. I didn't have to do anything.
Simply by the fact that my life was united with hers, everything that belonged to her now belonged to me. This is the miracle of salvation. You unite your life with Jesus. You don't have to do a thing. Simply by the fact that your life is united with his, everything that belongs to him becomes yours…righteousness (you're counted righteous), holiness, wisdom, redemption, strength, peace, hope, joy, meaning, life. It goes on and on and on, just because you're in Jesus and he's in you. Bring out the tubs.
All that leads to the next two characteristics of God's invitation: it is _fulfilling_ and it's _freeing_. Get the imagery. It's water for the thirsty. It's food for the hungry. It's all the wine and milk you could want. Delight yourself in rich food. That all begs the question…_What's the water?_ What's the wine? What's the milk? What's this rich food? Verse 3: **"Incline your ear, and come to me…"** He's it. God is the only one who can ultimately fulfill all of the desires of your soul.
So, brothers and sisters in Christ, God fulfills the deepest desires of your soul, which means you are free to stop living for the idols of this world. Stop gathering for worship on Sunday then turning the rest of the week to bow at the idolatry of work, achievement, approval, appearance, body image, control, comfort, money, possessions, sex, pornography, success, and sports.
Check your hearts. If 11 college students running around on a field on a Saturday with a pigskin in their hands captures your attention and ignites your affections more than God, you have the wrong god. Whatever good gift in this world you are tempted to treat as god, hear his voice. "Why would you spend your money for that which isn't bread and your labor for that which does not satisfy, does not compare to the God who made you?" Lift your eyes.
C.S. Lewis said, "We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." If this world is what's satisfying you, it's not because your desires are too strong; it's because your desires are too weak. It takes so little to satisfy you when you've been offered infinite joy, infinite hope, infinite peace, infinite strength, and infinite life. Fulfilling and freeing.
So, how do you leave behind these idols? That's the next characteristic of God's invitation. It's _cleansing_. Verse 7: **"…let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord…"** Who needs to return to the Lord as your one thing today? Who needs to turn away from unrighteous thoughts? Who needs to confess wicked ways, wicked words, wicked motives, wicked desires?
If we are not careful, we can come into this gathering, go through motions, sing some songs, hear a sermon, and walk out holding on to the same sin we came in here with. Don't do it. Seek the Lord in confession of sin. Verse 7: **"…that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."**
Next characteristic of God's invitation: it is _compassionate_. There is so much compassion in God. He doesn't just pardon; he abundantly pardons all our sins. This is the mercy that's pursuing you right now in this moment, which is why verse 6 says, **"Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near…"**
Next characteristic: God's invitation is _urgent_. Don't miss what this verse is saying. In the second service, we're going to take this to a whole other level, but for now, in this moment, just let it soak in. God is near to sinners. He's near to us right now, and he will be found by sinners who seek him, yet the implication is clear that there is coming a day when he will _not_ be found and he will _not_ be near.
The message of the Bible is crystal clear on this. All who confess their sin and trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord of their lives will have eternal life with God, and all who continue in sin with no trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord of their lives will experience eternal judgment from God, which Jesus himself describes as a hell full of agonizing fire that will never, ever end.
At which point people ask, "Is that literal? I mean, does Jesus mean hell is literally a place of fire or is that just symbolic language?" To which I respond, "What's the comfort if it's symbolic?" The point of a symbol is to express in words that which can't be expressed in words. If fiery hell is a symbol, what's it a symbol for? A winter retreat? No. It's a symbol for something worse than could be put in words. This is Jesus speaking, warning us.
God is saying to a room full of people today who are not guaranteed another breath in this world, "Enjoy my love right now. I'm here. I'm near to you. Don't wait till tomorrow. You're not guaranteed tomorrow. I'm near to you now." For Christians who are holding on to and hiding sin, trying to gloss over sin, who do you think you're fooling? You're fooling yourself, and you're living as a slave when you've been called to live as a son of God or a daughter of God in the freedom he gives. Why continue in slavery another moment? Be free in Christ.
He is near to sinners, and he is near to sufferers. I am confident that in a room this size many of you are hurting right now. Many of you are tired. You're discouraged. You're worried. You're anxious. You're afraid. You're brokenhearted. There is an urgency in this invitation to sinners as well as sufferers. God is saying right now, "I am near to you. Do not spend another moment trying to carry this on your own. Cast your cares on me. I will care for you. Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest now."
To go back to the imagery of the husband, some of you have been hurt by people close to you in such a way that you're hesitant to trust in anyone. I simply want you to hear God saying to all of you who are in Christ, "I will always, always, always be faithful to you, and I will never, ever, ever fail you."
That leads to the last characteristic of this invitation from God that's going to lead us into a time to respond. It is _humbling_. Meaning, there's no way to respond to this invitation with pride in our hearts. Psalm 95 gives us instructions for how to respond to this invitation using the same language as Isaiah 54 and 55. **"Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand."**
Bowing down, a picture of humility before the Lord. This is probably the biggest barrier to your responding to this invitation today: your pride. I'll talk about this more in the second service as well. Why is it so rare in our worship gatherings in the church today for us not all to be in _this_ posture? Why would that be like, "Whoa, that was an unusual Sunday"? All throughout this book, when people come before this God, it's not just _here_; it's _here_.
What does it say about us that we have grown used to coming into gatherings for worship before a holy God and never being right _here_ when the Bible clearly invites us to come here? Who in this room doesn't need to be there in sin, in suffering, in desperation before God? So, with this invitation, it's time for the main event.
As the team joins me out here, we're going to respond to God speaking. I just want to give you freedom to seek God in any number of ways. I'm going to put these on the screen just to get your mind going, but, Holy Spirit, lead. Some of you need to seek God for salvation. I would just ask… Have you entered into a love relationship, intimate communion, with God in your life?
I'm not asking if you've prayed a prayer, if you've gone to church, or called yourself a Christian. I'm asking if you know God in passionate relationship with him. If the answer to that question is "No, I've never known God that way," or "I did at one point; that was a long time ago, and a lot has happened since then," return to the Lord today. He's seeking you right now. Seek him for salvation through confession of sin. What sin do you need to confess today?
Let's examine our hearts and minds. Repent of any and all sin. Let's not walk out of here holding on to the sin we came in here with that he died to free us from. Let's seek God through cries for help, for yourself, for others. We need God to help us for healing, for guidance, for wisdom, for strength, for peace in our life or on others' behalf. What a privilege to pray for others. Or maybe just to seek God in praise and thanksgiving, just spending time praising God for who he is, thanking him for specific things he has done and is doing in your life, around your life, in the world.
You might do these things alone or with somebody else or with a small group. So, in the next few minutes, just pray however God leads. It could be on your own. It could be turning to somebody and saying, "Hey, can we pray together?" It could be coming around somebody and praying for them or getting with a few people to pray for them. It could be sitting, standing, kneeling, lying prostrate, lifting hands…all of these biblical postures. You can do that at your seat, at the front here, in the aisles, or somewhere else…wherever.
These brothers and sisters are going to lead us in song, but I want to invite you to pray, to cry out to God in any of these ways, and then you join in singing when it's appropriate. Whatever you do, do not be afraid of what others think. Unite our hearts to fear you alone, God. We're in the presence of God. Respond to God however the Holy Spirit of God leads you. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near right now.
God, we praise you that you're near to us right now. Jesus, we praise you that you are closer to us than we can even fathom, your Holy Spirit in us, around us, and among us. So, lead us, we pray. Direct us to seek you and call upon you with all of our hearts. Have your way during this time. In Jesus' name, amen.