Welcome to Battles Of Faith,
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we're your hosts,
Ivor and Atonte Myers.
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Today's program is
entitled "The art of stillness"
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"and the art of silence",
now if you were watching
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last weeks program, you
learned that we are in a holy
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war and as Christians we need
to realize that so we can learn
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how to fight back, and
you're probably wondering
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"Hey, they ended the program
last week without teaching us"
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"any of the arts,
or how to fight. "
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Well, we're going to
start that process today,
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and we're going to start
with the art of stillness.
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That's right, we have,
in our studies, seen that,
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holy war, talking about
spiritual warfare, is actually
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an art form. It is
something that needs
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to be learned just as if
you were in the military,
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there are principles
that need to be understood
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in this war against
self, and we discussed
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many of these principles in our
last program, and we're going
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to learn some more of
these principles, but we want
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to focus in on 2 arts in
particular, the art of stillness
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and the art of silence.
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You know, it's interesting,
as we look at holy war,
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and as we realize
that we are called to fight
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this fight of faith, we
have to understand that God
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is the one that
empowers us with His grace,
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God is the one that enables us
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to fight this
good fight of faith.
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Atonte, many times people
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don't understand that as
Christians, we're not just
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called to fight an "OK" fight
of faith, we're called to fight
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a good fight of faith.
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If you have ever seen a
good fight, or a good boxer,
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a good martial
artist, a good athlete,
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they are expert in what
they do, and believe it or not,
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God calls us to be expert
in war, to be expert fighters,
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to be masters, as it were,
I think of 1 Corinthians 9:25.
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I want to read that
verse because it says something
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very interesting, it says:
"And every man that striveth"
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"for the mastery is
temperate in all things. "
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We are told here that as
Christians we ought to be
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striving for the mastery.
That means, Atonte, you and I
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should be striving for
the mastery over ourselves,
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because that's who
we're trying to master,
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we're trying to master
self, this is the conflict
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that we are engaged in.
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It is the conflict against
self, and we're not only called
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to fight against self, we're
called to fight a good fight
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against self, and on
top of that, we're called
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to master self, so
that's excellent news, that God
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actually calls us to be masters.
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I know when I was into martial
art, I always wanted to achieve
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master status, that meant
that I was at the top of my art
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and that I was an
excellent fighter,
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but in the grace of God,
He calls us to master self,
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to dominate self, and this
is exactly what we see as we
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begin to look at these
various arts of warfare.
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I want to read 1
Corinthians 9:25,
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from the
Amplified Version, it says:
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"Now every athlete
who goes into training"
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"conducts himself temperately
and restricts himself"
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"in all things. They
do it to win a wreath"
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"that will soon wither,
but we do it to receive"
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"a crown of eternal blessedness
that cannot wither. "
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So there's training involved.
Paul's here saying that we have
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to endure some training if
we're going to be able to fight
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this good fight of faith.
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That's right, and the
first thing that we have seen
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that the Christian needs
to be trained in is the art
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of stillness.
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I want to read
from Psalms 46:10,
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the Bible says
here, very simple verse:
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"Be still and
know that I am God. "
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Stillness, Atonte, allows
us to be able to recognize
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the divine presence of
God, and in the world that we're
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living in today, stillness
is something that is very rare
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and God calls us to
understand that as warriors,
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the first thing that we
need on our side when we are
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fighting against self,
we need the presence of God.
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God has said in His
word "Be still", which means
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stop moving, "Be still
and know that I am God. "
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As Christians, many things that
Satan tries to throw out there
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to the world, we don't follow,
we're like: "Oh no, I know"
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"better than that. The
Bible says don't do that,"
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"I don't do that", but
as Christians we still find
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ourselves so busy that we almost
find it impossible to be still
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and have a quiet moment.
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Another very important reason
why we are told to be still
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is because it is in stillness
that God fights for us.
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Again, we can read 2
Chronicles 20:17 to see
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this principle of
stillness, and it says here:
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"You shall not need to fight
in this battle: set yourselves,"
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"stand ye" - and if you know
the verse you know what word
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come next - "stand ye still, and
see the salvation of the LORD"
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"with you, O Judah
and Jerusalem: fear not,"
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"nor be dismayed;
tomorrow go out against them:"
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"for the LORD
will be with you. "
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Again we see this
concept of stillness,
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providing that setting where we
can sense, feel and understand
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the divine
presence of God with us.
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And this presence is so
important for us because it is
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only by the presence of
God that we can win the victory
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over self.
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So the very first thing to
be able to engage in this war
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is to be still?
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Is to be still.
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Isaiah 26:3 tells us: "Thou
will keep him in perfect peace"
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"who's mind is
stayed," - or stilled -
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"remaining on Thee. "
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We receive that peace
that we are looking for,
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we receive that peace in
experiencing victory over
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ourselves when we keep our minds
stayed, or I will says stilled,
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upon Christ, that's why He
calls us to, before any other
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principles are learned, He
says "I want you to master"
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"the art of stillness. " and
we can look at today's society
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and see that many Christians are
failing at this art of stillness
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I can hear mothers out there
saying: "How can I be still"
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"when I have all these little
children, who are blessings,"
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"but they're running around,
constantly making noise,"
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"causing whatever kind of havoc
in the home, it's very hard"
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"to be still. ", but
you know, going back to what
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1 Corinthians 9:25 says, we have
to train, so we're going to have
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to be disciplined; An athlete,
when they go to the Oympics,
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they get to the Oympics because
they were very disciplined,
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and they took time to
train, and we're going
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to have to do the same thing;
As a mother to other mothers,
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we most
importantly, need to be training
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to be able fight this
battle because we have to train
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our little children to
do the same thing, and so
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I find that the best time to
be still is to take that time
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early in the morning because
that is the time where those
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little ones are still sleeping
and we can have the still
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time with the Lord, but
that means that we have to go
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to bed early, it's really a
lifestyle, to fight this war
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it's really a lifestyle.
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Some people may be
watching and saying:
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"Stillness... is that all
there is to the art of war?"
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If you were to join the military
or any other fighting system
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in the world, you
are trained at levels.
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You start out learning
the basics and you move up,
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you don't jump
automatically to the top,
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and this, I
believe is the basics.
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God calls us to understand that
it is in stillness, the setting
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of stillness where every
other principle is learned.
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Without stillness, the
other principles that are vital
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to understanding how to overcome
the cigarette, the alcohol,
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how to overcome the addictions
to the entertainment industry,
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how to overcome these
plethora of temptations
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that we got through, without
that foundation of understanding
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how to be still, we can't
learn the other principles.
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It's in stillness that in
God's presence comes to us,
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and it's in God's presence that
we begin to learn and understand
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how to fight that
good fight of faith.
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You know what? Sometimes if
we're not willing to arrange
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our lives so that we
have the time to be still,
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God will allow things to
happen to arrange that for us.
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I've seen that
happen many time as well.
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Psalms 4:4 tells us:
"Stand in awe, and sin not. "
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"Commune with your own heart
upon your bed, and be still. "
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That's a place where we
can learn stillness, as we're
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in our bed in the
morning, in our bed at night,
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getting ready to go to
sleep, God says take that time
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to practice the
art of stillness.
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That means to just allow
all the other things that cloud
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our minds to be
taken out of our minds,
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and to slow down,
to stop, to be still,
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and to seek for God's presence.
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One of the major
problems that we have,
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as Christians, the reason why
we don't obtain this stillness
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is because we go
into a communion with God
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with the wrong mindset. If
we went in really believing
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that we were worshipping
God, you cannot worship God
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and be on the move, if you
will, you have to have a time
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of stillness to worship a
holy God, and be in awe of Him.
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That's right. I
want to read a quote here
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from the book "Education",
page 260, which really brings
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out this principle, it says:
"Many, even in their seasons"
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"of devotion, fail of receiving
the blessing of real communion"
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"with God. They are in too
great haste, with hurried steps"
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"they press through the circle
of Christ's loving presence. "
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"Pausing perhaps a moment
within the sacred precincts,"
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"but not waiting for counsel.
They have no time to remain"
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"with the divine
teacher, with their burdens"
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"they return to their work. "
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That is very powerful.
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What we see from this is that
it is as we master stillness,
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learning to be still
in the presence of who?
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The Divine Teacher.
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"I will teach thee and
instruct thee in the way"
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"that thou shalt go. "
I think it's Psalms 32:8.
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God says I will
teach you and instruct you,
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and He will teach us and
instruct us in war, the war
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against self, how to become
masters, but before we can
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become masters at
this active war of faith,
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we must first
learn, coincidentally,
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the art of stillness.
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In the quote it says
"so many times they hurry"
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"and press through his loving
presence", it's almost like
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when it's time for worship to
be over, they'll slip out of it
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almost moaning, like:
"Oh, I don't want to leave"
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"His loving presence",
and it also, it talks about
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we rush through it so fast
that we don't leave enough time
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for Him to speak back
to us, to commune with God,
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us talking to Him,
and Him talking to us.
00:12:26.77\00:12:29.72
Daniel 12:4 has
a very interesting
00:12:29.95\00:12:33.73
concept presented to the
reader, especially in light
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of what we're talking
about, because in Daniel 12:4
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it says that in the time
of the end knowledge shall be
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increased, many
shall run to and fro.
00:12:45.79\00:12:50.57
When we hear this verse
spoken in a prophetical context,
00:12:51.40\00:12:56.67
we know that at
the time of the end,
00:12:56.82\00:12:58.84
knowledge would be increased
and society would begin
00:12:59.22\00:13:04.64
to multiply, and technology,
inventions, would begin
00:13:04.68\00:13:09.74
to increase, and that's a
good thing, and some people
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also look at this verse and say
that the knowledge of the Bible
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would increase in the
last days, but I also believe
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that the running to and
fro in the last days, also has
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a negative context in
the fact that we see a world
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where people are just
busy, caught up in the affairs
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of life, running to and
fro with no time to be still.
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You look at the
internet, the television, media,
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and everything that
this world has to offer,
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men are running to and fro,
especially in these last days:
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eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage,
00:13:47.16\00:13:49.57
and just going about
their business with no time
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to stand still and
know that God is God.
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I'm sure there's people
out there who are very similar
00:13:57.94\00:14:00.94
to myself, who find it
very difficult to be still
00:14:00.97\00:14:04.94
because our mind moves at such
a fast pace, it's hard to slow
00:14:04.98\00:14:08.85
everything down, but my
challenge to you, and I'm sure
00:14:08.88\00:14:12.79
God's challenge to all
of us is practice it, say:
00:14:12.89\00:14:16.42
"Ok Lord, I have a hard
time being still and having"
00:14:16.45\00:14:19.75
"a quiet moment with
you. " Do 5 minutes at a time,
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and then up it to 10,
and 15 and so on and practice
00:14:23.16\00:14:25.99
like an athlete,
remember, we're training so that
00:14:26.02\00:14:28.82
we can fight in this
battle, and in the war.
00:14:28.85\00:14:31.34
Exactly.
00:14:31.37\00:14:32.91
There's an account where
Jesus is casting out a demon
00:14:33.56\00:14:38.66
out of a possessed man,
and at one point in this
00:14:38.86\00:14:42.26
account, Jesus asked this
demon: "what is your name?"
00:14:42.30\00:14:45.54
and the demon replies "My name
is Legion, for we are many. "
00:14:45.79\00:14:50.59
You see here, the demon
being named according to his
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characteristics, he was called
Legion because he was many.
00:14:54.12\00:14:57.87
This is not in the Bible, this
is my own thing, but I believe
00:14:58.57\00:15:02.65
that there is a demon
by the name of "Rush",
00:15:02.68\00:15:07.13
...And he has a
first cousin named "Busy".
00:15:09.26\00:15:12.34
Yeah.
00:15:12.37\00:15:13.41
The demon of Rush, he is
responsible for teaching us,
00:15:14.21\00:15:18.34
for getting us into a
rushed state of mind so that
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everything is about
"Rush, rush, rush", and with the
00:15:22.46\00:15:26.92
specific purpose of
never allowing us to have time
00:15:26.95\00:15:31.38
to be still and know
that God is God because it is
00:15:31.64\00:15:35.11
in that stillness again,
stillness is the classroom
00:15:35.15\00:15:38.59
in which we learn the art
of warfare, in which we learn
00:15:39.12\00:15:42.79
the principles of war that we'll
be discussing in this series.
00:15:42.83\00:15:47.27
It is in this setting
that the demons of rush say:
00:15:47.48\00:15:51.54
"Whatever you
do, keep them busy. "
00:15:51.64\00:15:54.12
That's right. And
God wants us to be still
00:15:54.16\00:15:57.11
so that we can hear His
voice, it is through His word
00:15:57.26\00:16:01.13
that we receive power to
overcome and to fight the enemy
00:16:01.17\00:16:04.47
which we know everyday
we're going to have to fight.
00:16:04.51\00:16:07.75
Now that takes us to the
next phase, once you're still,
00:16:07.79\00:16:11.00
you need to be silent.
00:16:11.03\00:16:12.11
Right. This is a
good transition because
00:16:12.21\00:16:14.78
when we look at the
entertainment industry,
00:16:15.95\00:16:18.72
everything is moving so
quickly, the movies: fast paced,
00:16:18.83\00:16:24.14
the music: fast paced,
00:16:24.81\00:16:27.21
the entertainment industry
is a fast moving entity,
00:16:27.99\00:16:32.11
and I believe that that
has a lot to do with how we,
00:16:32.14\00:16:35.84
in essence, live our lives.
When we're continually being
00:16:35.87\00:16:39.54
bombarded by these
scenes of quickness,
00:16:39.57\00:16:43.41
these scenes of everything
is fast, everything is motion,
00:16:43.45\00:16:45.90
everything is
happening now, now, now!
00:16:45.93\00:16:48.03
When we live in a society
like that, it trains the mind
00:16:48.20\00:16:51.64
to be busy.
00:16:51.67\00:16:52.64
Busyness is a state of
mind, it begins in the mind,
00:16:52.65\00:16:56.42
and if busyness begins in the
mind then stillness must also
00:16:56.77\00:16:59.93
begin in the mind, and
that's where prayed comes in,
00:16:59.96\00:17:03.77
that's where we learn to be
still in prayer, and that takes
00:17:03.81\00:17:06.57
us over into the art of silence.
00:17:06.60\00:17:11.65
God not only wants us to
be still, but He also wants us
00:17:11.79\00:17:15.94
to master silence. Why?
00:17:16.34\00:17:19.09
Because in silence
we hear the instruction,
00:17:19.13\00:17:23.67
the voice of God.
00:17:23.80\00:17:26.01
Being silent, hearing
God's voice, again, that's what
00:17:27.66\00:17:31.71
empowers us to be able to fight.
00:17:31.74\00:17:34.22
Many of us say "I don't
hear the voice of God. "
00:17:36.21\00:17:39.16
We do, the Holy Spirit
is leading us all the time.
00:17:39.19\00:17:42.11
Sometimes we hear it when things
are not so busy and not so
00:17:42.55\00:17:45.65
loud, if you will, and
most of the time we don't
00:17:47.14\00:17:50.15
because our life is on
fast forward all the time,
00:17:50.18\00:17:53.16
and we're just
not hearing His voice.
00:17:53.19\00:17:55.82
That's right.
Another quote from the book
00:17:55.85\00:17:58.41
"The Ministry of
Healing", page 58, says this:
00:17:58.45\00:18:01.59
"He that is God, bids us: be
still and know that I am God. "
00:18:01.85\00:18:05.91
"This is the effectual
preparation for all labor"
00:18:06.12\00:18:09.56
"for God. Amidst the hurrying
throng, the strains of life's"
00:18:09.60\00:18:14.13
"intense activities, he
who is thus refreshed will be"
00:18:14.16\00:18:17.62
"surrounded with an
atmosphere of light and peace. "
00:18:17.65\00:18:21.08
"He will receive a new endowment
of both, physical, and mental"
00:18:21.18\00:18:24.64
"strength, his life
will breath out a fragrance"
00:18:24.67\00:18:28.35
"and will reveal a divine power
that will reach men's hearts. "
00:18:28.45\00:18:34.05
It is this being still,
knowing that God is God,
00:18:34.15\00:18:37.87
listening for His
voice, that teaches us,
00:18:37.97\00:18:41.28
that prepares us, not
only to go out and fight
00:18:41.32\00:18:44.32
the good fight of
faith, but also to be a witness
00:18:44.36\00:18:47.79
for those people around
us, to have that fragrance
00:18:47.83\00:18:51.23
flowing out from us, because it
is there that people then become
00:18:51.43\00:18:54.85
attracted and say: "whatever
you have, that's what I want. "
00:18:54.88\00:18:58.35
We get that through
learning how to be still,
00:18:58.41\00:19:01.78
and learning how to be
silent to hear God's voice.
00:19:01.98\00:19:04.87
Now this is the real
challenge, because some of us
00:19:04.90\00:19:07.72
can take time out and spend
that quiet time in the morning
00:19:07.76\00:19:10.91
and in the evening with the
Lord when we get up, or before
00:19:10.94\00:19:14.06
we go to bed, but we're
finding that the problem is
00:19:14.09\00:19:17.03
when we get out of those
special times with the Lord,
00:19:17.06\00:19:19.97
it seems like we
leave it at that time.
00:19:20.00\00:19:22.27
How can we be still and
silent going throughout the day?
00:19:22.31\00:19:25.14
Going to work, going to school,
doing all the many different
00:19:25.17\00:19:27.97
things that we must do.
It's a training of the mind.
00:19:28.00\00:19:31.62
And this is what Jesus had,
He had the constant communion
00:19:32.74\00:19:35.18
going on with His Father, where
things around Him were going on,
00:19:35.22\00:19:39.67
and He's talking to people,
but His connection was always
00:19:39.70\00:19:43.41
flowing so He
could hear everything
00:19:43.44\00:19:45.59
that His Father was saying.
00:19:45.62\00:19:46.81
This connects back to
the entertainment industry.
00:19:46.85\00:19:49.05
It's not that God doesn't
want you to engulf yourself
00:19:50.72\00:19:57.42
with the entertainment
industry just because...
00:19:57.45\00:19:59.73
it is because he knows that
if you're constantly feeding
00:19:59.77\00:20:02.89
all that stuff into your mind,
you're not going to be able
00:20:02.93\00:20:06.02
to walk around during
the day with that stillness,
00:20:06.05\00:20:08.95
and the silence.
00:20:09.97\00:20:13.64
So if you have all
that stuff in your mind,
00:20:13.74\00:20:15.93
it's almost impossible.
00:20:15.96\00:20:17.24
That's right, stillness
and silence, these arts are not
00:20:17.28\00:20:20.30
limited to our prayer time,
00:20:20.33\00:20:22.31
even though in prayer
time, understanding the art
00:20:22.35\00:20:24.52
of silence is very important
because many times we go down,
00:20:24.56\00:20:27.14
we kneel to pray, and
who's doing all the talking?
00:20:27.17\00:20:29.56
We're doing all the talking.
00:20:29.68\00:20:31.18
We stop, we get up,
we go about our way.
00:20:31.22\00:20:33.86
We don't understand what
it means to be silent, to hear
00:20:33.90\00:20:38.15
God's voice speaking to
us, do we really expect God
00:20:38.18\00:20:42.40
to speak to us?
We're not talking about
00:20:42.43\00:20:44.33
an audible voice,
Isaiah 30:21 says:
00:20:44.53\00:20:47.06
"And thine ears shall
hear a word behind thee,"
00:20:47.10\00:20:49.94
"saying 'this is the
way, walk ye in it. '"
00:20:50.13\00:20:53.74
What way?
00:20:53.77\00:20:54.74
The Bible tells us that God
has provided a way of escape
00:20:54.75\00:20:58.53
from every temptation, so
in the midst of every trial,
00:20:58.56\00:21:02.58
every temptation, if we
listen close enough, we can hear
00:21:02.61\00:21:06.60
the voice of God, speaking
to us saying: "this is the way,"
00:21:06.80\00:21:09.83
"walk ye in it", and
so stillness and silence
00:21:10.03\00:21:12.77
become something that
spills out into our life.
00:21:12.81\00:21:15.52
When everything is going
chaotic around us, we are able
00:21:15.84\00:21:19.84
to keep our minds still
on Christ, stayed on Christ,
00:21:20.14\00:21:24.61
and silent, so that we can
hear, and this becomes crucial
00:21:24.77\00:21:29.46
in the fight against self.
00:21:29.59\00:21:31.22
Also, being still and
being silent helps to keep us
00:21:31.36\00:21:35.61
in perfect peace, that's
what the Bible calls us to do.
00:21:35.64\00:21:39.09
Many times, we're not in
that way and so we're moving
00:21:39.13\00:21:42.43
around so fast and things
are not peaceful in our minds,
00:21:42.47\00:21:45.74
and here comes sin
and we run right into sin.
00:21:45.94\00:21:48.98
Sin is just
waiting for us to come,
00:21:49.01\00:21:50.83
because Satan sees that
everything is so chaotic
00:21:50.87\00:21:54.07
and it's not peaceful and
so we just fall right into sin.
00:21:54.11\00:21:57.35
That's right, we need to learn
how to master peace in the midst
00:21:57.55\00:22:00.84
of a crisis. How
do we master peace
00:22:00.87\00:22:03.19
in the midst of a
crisis? By practicing the art
00:22:03.23\00:22:05.95
of stillness, by
practicing the art of silence.
00:22:05.99\00:22:08.68
When we understand those
things, we may be like Jesus
00:22:08.72\00:22:11.76
in the boat in the midst of
the storm, who, when everything
00:22:11.80\00:22:14.63
was going on around
Him, He was able to rest
00:22:14.66\00:22:17.23
in peace, so that's
something very interesting.
00:22:17.36\00:22:21.01
When you think about a
fighter, an earthly fighter,
00:22:21.04\00:22:24.62
an external fighter, a person
who's involved in fighting
00:22:24.66\00:22:27.79
systems of the world, they
understand that remaining calm
00:22:27.98\00:22:32.38
in a fight is crucial.
Let me read something here,
00:22:32.53\00:22:36.22
this is speaking what happens
in a conflict, and how it can
00:22:37.49\00:22:41.03
seriously affect any
battle that you're in.
00:22:43.04\00:22:46.06
At 115 beats per minute, talking
about heart beat, most people
00:22:46.41\00:22:52.44
will lose their fine
complex motive skills.
00:22:52.47\00:22:55.90
At 105 beats per minute,
most people will lose their
00:22:56.06\00:22:59.50
complex motive skills,
without complex motive skills
00:22:59.54\00:23:02.91
it is difficult to execute
movement, to make matters worse,
00:23:02.95\00:23:07.74
the part of the brain
that hears also shuts down.
00:23:07.77\00:23:10.78
This is when you're
heart beat begins to increase
00:23:10.82\00:23:13.76
because you're in the middle
of a conflict and you're not
00:23:13.80\00:23:15.77
remaining calm.
00:23:15.80\00:23:16.85
At 175 beats per
minute, a person will experience
00:23:16.89\00:23:21.01
tunnel vision, and visual
tracking can become difficult,
00:23:21.28\00:23:26.09
opening a person up
to multiple attacks.
00:23:26.96\00:23:29.27
On an average, a person
will experience a 70% decrease
00:23:29.37\00:23:32.87
in their visual field during
a violent attack, and their
00:23:32.91\00:23:36.38
heart beat is increased.
00:23:36.41\00:23:40.43
Depth perception now begins
to be lost, and critical stress
00:23:40.53\00:23:44.56
amnesia can occur, causing
a person to forget up to 70%
00:23:44.60\00:23:48.60
of the encounter.
00:23:48.63\00:23:49.85
At 185 beats per minute,
most people will go into a state
00:23:49.89\00:23:54.12
of Hypervigilance,
meaning they will go into
00:23:54.15\00:23:56.32
the "deer in
the headlight" mode.
00:23:56.35\00:23:59.18
Now, that's for
physical fighting.
00:23:59.41\00:24:02.04
How do you think it is
when we are in the middle
00:24:02.27\00:24:05.29
of a temptation and
we don't remain calm.
00:24:05.32\00:24:08.92
Our heart beat
begins to speed up,
00:24:09.39\00:24:12.91
all of a sudden
we're in spiritual
00:24:12.94\00:24:16.39
"deer in the headlight"
mode, sin is coming right at us,
00:24:16.43\00:24:20.24
temptation is coming right
at us and we're frozen because
00:24:20.27\00:24:23.55
the temptation has such a grasp
over us, we have not learned
00:24:23.58\00:24:26.83
how to be still, how to
be silent and we just fall
00:24:26.86\00:24:30.79
right into that temptation,
brought on to us by self.
00:24:30.99\00:24:34.58
Let's keep it
practical, "let's keep it real"
00:24:35.27\00:24:37.25
as the young people
would say, I mean, this happens
00:24:37.29\00:24:40.15
on a daily basis in the
home. If we were experiencing
00:24:40.25\00:24:44.05
that peace, that
stillness, that silence,
00:24:44.08\00:24:46.95
when your husband or wife
may say that thing to you,
00:24:46.99\00:24:50.50
everything is in a much
slower motion, you're so much
00:24:50.81\00:24:53.69
more calm, you're going to wait,
hear God's voice, and respond.
00:24:53.73\00:24:58.26
And if you're obedient to what
God tells you to do, it is going
00:24:59.16\00:25:02.11
to not cause whatever
that person said or did to
00:25:02.14\00:25:05.37
escalate and take
it to the next level.
00:25:05.40\00:25:07.10
This formula can be used in any
situation, and this is what true
00:25:07.42\00:25:11.96
Christian fighting should be.
00:25:12.54\00:25:14.44
That's right. Be still.
00:25:14.47\00:25:16.47
Don't respond, be
still. Know that God is God,
00:25:17.50\00:25:20.88
listen for His voice.
00:25:20.91\00:25:22.41
These are the very fist
steps, and God trains us in this
00:25:22.45\00:25:25.46
through prayer.
Another powerful quote,
00:25:25.66\00:25:27.54
I've got so many here, but
"Ministry of Healing", page 58,
00:25:27.58\00:25:30.31
says this: "All who are
under the training of God"
00:25:30.34\00:25:33.23
"need the quiet hour for
communion with their own hearts"
00:25:33.27\00:25:37.19
"with nature, and with
God. In them is to be revealed"
00:25:37.23\00:25:41.08
"a life that is not in harmony
with the world, it's customs"
00:25:41.12\00:25:44.25
"or its practices. We
must individually hear Him"
00:25:44.28\00:25:48.74
"speak to our hearts.
When ever other voice"
00:25:48.77\00:25:51.60
"is hushed and in
quietness we wait before Him,"
00:25:51.64\00:25:54.44
"the silence of the soul makes
more distinct the voice of God."
00:25:54.64\00:26:00.12
Beautiful,
beautiful concept there.
00:26:00.51\00:26:03.42
Learning to be
still, learning to be silent
00:26:03.46\00:26:06.31
gives us that peace,
and when we're in conflict,
00:26:06.35\00:26:09.40
like Jesus, in
the midst of conflict,
00:26:09.43\00:26:11.94
the Bible says that when
Jesus was in His last days
00:26:11.98\00:26:15.38
and He's being questioned
before Pilate, the Bible says
00:26:15.41\00:26:18.78
that Jesus held His peace.
00:26:18.81\00:26:21.67
Most people read that and they
say "Oh, He didn't say anything"
00:26:21.74\00:26:23.74
no, He held His
peace, He held His composure,
00:26:23.77\00:26:26.98
He held His connection with
God because He had practiced,
00:26:27.08\00:26:30.94
He had mastered the art of
stillness and the art of silence
00:26:30.97\00:26:34.80
Amen.
00:26:35.17\00:26:36.69
This is what these
programs are all about.
00:26:37.44\00:26:39.22
We want to help, with
God's Holy Spirit and His power,
00:26:39.26\00:26:43.05
to train people to experience
this because this is powerful.
00:26:43.09\00:26:48.52
When people see that
you are so connected to God
00:26:48.55\00:26:52.03
and you are being still
and silent so you can hear
00:26:52.07\00:26:55.19
God's voice, when you
don't react the way that
00:26:55.22\00:26:58.27
the average person would
react, this is a testimony.
00:26:58.31\00:27:02.94
This is what speaks
to people, and they say:
00:27:02.97\00:27:05.30
"I want what you have. "
It's evangelism power working
00:27:05.34\00:27:08.94
and walking, it's very powerful.
00:27:09.14\00:27:10.68
That's right, that
other attack of the enemy,
00:27:10.72\00:27:13.82
is that he will
bombard our minds with music,
00:27:13.85\00:27:16.92
with the programs so that
we've got all these other voices
00:27:17.02\00:27:20.56
in our heads when we kneel down
to pray we cannot be silent.
00:27:20.59\00:27:24.10
Why? Because those
things are playing in our minds:
00:27:24.13\00:27:27.24
the latest
movie, the latest music,
00:27:27.76\00:27:29.81
and what we hear is
the voices of the world
00:27:29.91\00:27:33.43
and not the voice of God.
00:27:33.63\00:27:35.50
So we've got to understand
that this is the beginning
00:27:35.73\00:27:39.16
of the warfare, it may sound
simple, but it is profound.
00:27:39.19\00:27:42.59
The art of
stillness, the art of silence,
00:27:42.62\00:27:46.45
these are 2 arts of
war that help us to learn
00:27:46.59\00:27:49.99
how to master self.
00:27:50.02\00:27:52.48
That's right, and
remember, challenge yourself,
00:27:52.58\00:27:55.06
take time and allow God
to train you in this art.
00:27:55.16\00:27:58.68
It will take time, but with
God all things are possible.
00:27:58.72\00:28:01.94
We're all out of time,
until next time, God bless.
00:28:02.14\00:28:05.14
[Music for Credits]
00:28:05.17\00:28:07.61