Welcome to
Pressing in to His Presence.
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Please, join us today to learn
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how you can develop a
passion for God's presence.
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Welcome to
Pressing in to His Presence.
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Today, we are going to lay
the ground work for this series
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which is based on a book
that I was very privileged
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to write also titled
Pressing in to His Presence.
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Today, were going to be
starting with chapter one
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and this series is a
series dedicated to prayer.
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But we will start
with my personal testimony
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as to how I developed a
passion for God's presence.
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You know, for
most of my adult life.
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I lived in out of
the way rural areas
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and this is required driving
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long desolate
stretches of highway
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to reach cities of any
significant population.
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Still any inconvenience
of time consuming travel
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has been offset by treasure
times of talking with God
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in one of my favorite
prayer classes, my car.
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In Matthew 6:6 Jesus
said enter into that closet
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and when you have shut the
door and prayer to your father.
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Perhaps He wasn't thinking
of driving 70 miles an hour
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down the highway while
praying and I'm sure that
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He would recommend
total absorption in prayer
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if you're
surrounded by heavy traffic.
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But my only traffic
concerns were avoiding
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the occasional tumble weed
or an absent minded jackrabbit
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that happen to
amble across the path
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of my prayer closet on wheels.
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I will never
forget an evening in 1996
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when I headed west from
our farm in Coleman, Texas
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to visit my
sister in New Mexico.
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Slinging my suitcase
into the back of the car
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I pop down in the driver
seat and pull the door close
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shutting the world
and all distractions
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and in eager anticipation
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of the seven hour trip before me
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I prayed and
headed down the road.
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No radio or CD's for me.
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With precious
little time to myself
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driving miles of near
empty desolate highways
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was something to be treasured.
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I enjoyed the
undisturbed silence
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which served as an
incubator for my inner thoughts.
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The roads at night
were lighted by a full moon
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and only an occasional
set of oncoming headlights
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interrupted the
serenity of the landscape.
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Ahead was another travel
adventure of hundreds of miles
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over the most
desolate highways imaginable
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with only my
favorite companion, the Lord.
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Little did I know what
God had in store for me.
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Now, I'm about to
share a story with you
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that is more
than a little unusual
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and opening my heart
like this is risky business.
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I chance being misunderstood
and even labeled strange.
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Let me
emphasize something first.
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It was a one time
occurrence in my life
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and this
particular experience is not
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what the teaching of
this series on prayer is about
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it is however related
in an exotic kind of way.
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So I'll risk tell you but
first let me ask you a question.
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Have you ever
prayed for over six hours
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without
distraction or interruption?
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It has been my privilege
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only once on that
moon lit night in 1996.
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It was an extraordinary event
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that began with me
praying Psalms 27:7-9.
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"Hear, O Lord, when
I cry with my voice!
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Have mercy also
upon me, and answer me.
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When you said 'Seek My
face,' my heart said to You,
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'Your face, Lord, I will seek.'
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Do not hide your
face far from me,
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do not turn your
servant away in anger,
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You have been my help, do
not leave me nor forsake me,
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O God of my salvation."
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I wasn't merely
quoting scripture,
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rather this was a
sincere heart cry for weeks
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I had had constant distractions
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and they had eclipsed my
time of worship with the Lord.
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A deep sense of lost now
overshadowed and overwhelmed me
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and I mourned the
lack of intimate fellowship
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with the lover of my soul.
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As I began thanking God
for His countless blessings
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praise for His goodness
and mercy weld in my heart
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and flowed from my lips.
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I pleaded for forgiveness
confessing the many ways
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in which I had
failed Him and soon
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I was praying scripture promises
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returning God's word
to Him with thanksgiving
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and I was absolutely persuade
it that He had the power
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to perform what He had promised.
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It was as if I
was inhaling relief
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and exhaling every negative
feeling that numbed my joy.
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That night I strived to
worship earnestly in truth
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and in spirit
longing to draw near to him,
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to press into his presence.
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He was definitely
drawing near to me
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just as He promised in James 4:8
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which says "Draw near to God
and He will draw near to you."
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Those frequently traveled roads
were so absolutely familiar
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that this journey required
no concentration on directions
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and that freed me to
become completely immersed
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in worship of
my Lord and Savior.
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Six hours of seeking His
face were swiftly absorbed
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into the sponge
like trough of this bliss
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and then a familiar
landmark appeared announcing
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that I only had 45 minutes
remaining to my destination
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and I cried out oh, Lord,
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I'm not ready to
stop worshiping You.
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I've never before sensed
Your presence as which I like.
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It's true Father,
as Psalms 16:11 says,
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"In Your presence
is fullness of joy
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and at Your right hand
are pleasures forevermore."
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And I said oh, Lord,
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I love you with
all of my heart, soul
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and mind caused me to love
you with all of my strength
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and I prayed David's
words of prayer in Psalms 42:1
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which says "As the deer
pants for the water brooks,
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so my soul
pants for you, O God."
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What happened
next is indescribable.
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It was in Acts 2 upper
room type of experience.
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Not with the mighty
rushing winds or tons of fire
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but certainly with an
outpouring of His spirit.
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Suddenly, unexpectedly
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joy cascaded over
me in wave after wave
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and words are
insufficient to describe it.
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I sensed that God
was communicating with me
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but not in any language it
was deep calling into deep,
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His heart calling into my heart,
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His spirit calling to my spirit.
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He flooded with His love.
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It reminded me of Psalms 42:7-8
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where David wrote
"Deep calls unto deep
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at the noise of Your waterfalls,
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all Your waves and
billows have gone over me.
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The Lord will command
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His
loving-kindness in the daytime,
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and in the night His
song shall be with me,
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a prayer to the God of my life."
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You know, if there is one thing
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that Bible commentators agree on
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it is that King
David was pouring
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emotions of devastation
as he penned Psalm 42.
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Cut off from
worshiping in the sanctuary
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David was distressed
with holy zeal for God.
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He so thirsted for living
water from the living Lord.
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Most commentators
believe that David refers
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to the overwhelming
afflictions of his soul
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as being God's waves and
billows cascading over him.
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Now, I'm not a theologian
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and I don't presume to
correct Bible commentators.
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Still after my experience
of pressing into His presence
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that night I can't
help but look at Psalm 42
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through a different lens.
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David had first written
these words in Psalm 42:5.
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"Why are you in
despair, O my soul?
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And why are you
become disturbed within me?
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Hope in God, for I
shall again praise Him
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for the help of His presence."
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Is it possible that
in the midst the angst
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that David expressed that
he pressed into God's presence
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and experienced the
same unique visitation I had?
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Is that why he was able to rise
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so rapidly from
the debts of disband
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and seek to the heights
of faith and confidence.
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You know, in Revelation
14:2 the apostle John wrote,
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"I heard a voice from heaven,
like the voice of many waters."
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When David referred to
the noise of God's waterfall
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was he describing God's
presence pouring out over him
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in powerful
wordless communication,
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deep calling into deep
like the roar of the waterfalls
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the voice of many waters.
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Could that explain why
he also penned in Psalm 42:8
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"The Lord will command
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His
loving-kindness in the daytime,
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and in the night His
song shall be with me
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a prayer to the God of my life."
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And why he concluded
with these words in verse 11,
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"Why are you
cast down, O my soul?
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And why are you
disquieted within me?
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Hope in God for I
shall yet praise Him,
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the help of my countenance."
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You know, I don't
mean to take poetic license
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or to try to
rewrite Bible commentary.
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This is simply
something that causes to wonder
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and since it's
not a doctrinal matter
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I trusted its okay
to share my musings
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about David's experience
and relation to my own.
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Sadly, my encounter
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was a one time
occurrence in my life.
00:11:15.07\00:11:17.77
Never since have I
communed with God for six hours
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in such earnest
uninterrupted prayer.
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Oh, yes, I've attended
all night prayer vigils
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where we prayed
around the clock,
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still these were
times of seeking God's hand
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to move in
specific answers to prayers.
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Not an uninterrupted season,
a sincerity seeking His faith.
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I tried myself
sometimes for being
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spiritually lazy and apathetic.
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Why haven't I tried
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to repeat the unique
events of that evening?
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Well, first I'm afraid
it wouldn't happen again
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if I were to
seek "the experience."
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Besides if we go to
God with the expectation
00:11:58.11\00:12:02.32
of some type of
phenomenal experience
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we are seeking Him
for the wrong reason
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and we become in
danger of receiving
00:12:08.96\00:12:12.19
a psychologically educed result.
00:12:12.23\00:12:15.33
So I will
settle for this perhaps
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once in a lifetime event.
00:12:17.97\00:12:21.74
You may doubt
what I have just shared
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attributing the event to
emotionalism, that's okay.
00:12:24.74\00:12:28.98
I confess that hearing
such a story from someone else
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would really leave me skeptical.
00:12:32.51\00:12:35.25
My defense is simply that
00:12:35.28\00:12:36.75
I'm not an
overly emotional person
00:12:36.79\00:12:40.09
and I not a sensationalist.
00:12:40.12\00:12:42.92
This story was not shared tout
00:12:42.96\00:12:45.29
the tail of some
mountain top experience
00:12:45.33\00:12:48.66
but merely to illustrate
the power of heart felt prayer.
00:12:48.70\00:12:54.17
You see, prayer is
like a multifaceted diamond
00:12:54.20\00:12:59.57
and the benefits of
prayer are like multifaceted.
00:12:59.61\00:13:04.08
Our practice of prayer
needs a little polishing
00:13:04.11\00:13:08.22
to realize its brilliance.
00:13:08.25\00:13:10.59
We too often regard
the purpose of prayer
00:13:10.62\00:13:13.89
as the matter of simply
laying our request before God
00:13:13.92\00:13:17.89
oh, but they are so much more.
00:13:17.93\00:13:20.60
The underlying purpose of prayer
00:13:20.63\00:13:23.47
is to know God on
a more intimate level
00:13:23.50\00:13:27.17
by communicating with
Him on a more intimate level.
00:13:27.20\00:13:32.11
So, how do we develop a
passion for God's presence?
00:13:32.14\00:13:36.61
Let's look at Jeremiah 29
00:13:36.64\00:13:39.61
and we are going to
begin with verse 11.
00:13:39.65\00:13:42.62
Here God says "'For I
know the plans I have for you,'
00:13:42.65\00:13:46.92
declares the Lord,
00:13:46.96\00:13:48.52
'plans to prosper
you and not to harm you,
00:13:48.56\00:13:51.19
plans to give you
hope and a future.
00:13:51.23\00:13:54.83
Then'" notice first He
says I've got these plan for you
00:13:54.86\00:13:59.13
"'then you will call on
me and come and pray to me,
00:13:59.17\00:14:02.87
and I will listen to you.
00:14:02.90\00:14:04.61
You will seek me and find me
00:14:04.64\00:14:07.34
when you seek me
with all your heart.
00:14:07.38\00:14:10.18
I will be found by
you,' declares the Lord,
00:14:10.21\00:14:13.05
'and will bring you
back from captivity.'"
00:14:13.08\00:14:18.55
Did you notice that I
added emphases to the word then?
00:14:18.59\00:14:24.03
"Then you will call on
me and come and pray to me."
00:14:24.06\00:14:27.60
The question is when?
00:14:27.60\00:14:29.36
When do we call upon God
00:14:29.40\00:14:31.27
seeking Him with
all of our heart?
00:14:31.30\00:14:34.10
When we recognize
00:14:34.14\00:14:36.00
that He has a
good plan for our lives
00:14:36.04\00:14:38.94
then we become motivated
00:14:38.97\00:14:40.98
to seek Him with
all of our heart.
00:14:41.01\00:14:44.31
God does have a
plan for our lives
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and it is better than
the one we are living.
00:14:47.42\00:14:50.25
We find it in His holy word
and when we discover His plan,
00:14:50.29\00:14:55.46
acknowledge His sovereignty
and power and understand that
00:14:55.49\00:14:59.89
He performs on behalf
of our eternal benefit.
00:14:59.93\00:15:04.40
Our hearts well up
with eager expectation.
00:15:04.43\00:15:07.94
We develop an incredible desire
00:15:07.97\00:15:10.74
to spend time in
the council of His will,
00:15:10.77\00:15:14.44
the Bible and we
exhort increased effort
00:15:14.48\00:15:18.21
to whole hearted communication
with the lover of our souls.
00:15:18.25\00:15:23.05
In other words, we develop
a passion for His presence.
00:15:23.08\00:15:28.22
A greater understanding
of God's plan for our lives
00:15:28.26\00:15:32.09
naturally progresses to
a passion for His presence.
00:15:32.13\00:15:36.10
The closer we draw to Him
the more we become like Christ
00:15:36.13\00:15:41.64
and the more Christ
like we become the more
00:15:41.67\00:15:44.37
we develop an increased
sensitivity to His moment
00:15:44.41\00:15:48.61
by moment presence with us.
00:15:48.64\00:15:50.98
He is always with
us. He never leaves us.
00:15:51.01\00:15:53.62
He never forsakes us.
00:15:53.65\00:15:55.75
And if we are not
experiencing His presence
00:15:55.78\00:15:58.82
it is due to our indifference.
00:15:58.85\00:16:02.19
Spiritual indifference is
a dangerous heart condition.
00:16:02.22\00:16:07.96
You know, King David had
a passion for God's presence
00:16:08.00\00:16:12.40
and that passion
caused to seek God earnestly
00:16:12.43\00:16:16.60
and in return God saw David.
00:16:16.64\00:16:19.24
He saw him to be king
00:16:19.27\00:16:21.24
calling him a man
after his own heart.
00:16:21.28\00:16:24.61
In his prayer journal
which is what I call the Psalms,
00:16:24.65\00:16:28.02
this is David's prayer journal.
00:16:28.05\00:16:30.32
He is refereeing to
himself in these words
00:16:30.35\00:16:33.09
found in Psalms
21:6 and he says,
00:16:33.12\00:16:37.59
"For you have made him,
David most blessed forever.
00:16:37.63\00:16:43.06
You have made him exceedingly
glad with Your presence."
00:16:43.10\00:16:47.54
You know, we can
look to the Old Testament
00:16:47.57\00:16:49.17
and realize that
David spiritual love
00:16:49.20\00:16:51.77
had its ebbs and flows.
00:16:51.81\00:16:54.04
Still his desire for
God's presence always returned
00:16:54.08\00:16:58.28
as consuming waves of passion.
00:16:58.31\00:17:01.38
In the wilderness of Judah
00:17:01.42\00:17:03.22
David wrote these words
recorded in Psalm 63:1-4.
00:17:03.25\00:17:09.39
"O God, You are my
God, earnestly I seek You,
00:17:09.42\00:17:14.46
my soul thirsts for
You, my body longs for you,
00:17:14.46\00:17:18.60
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.
00:17:18.63\00:17:22.40
I have seen You in the sanctuary
00:17:22.44\00:17:24.84
and beheld Your power and glory.
00:17:24.87\00:17:27.81
Because Your love
is better than life,
00:17:27.84\00:17:31.08
my lips will glorify You.
00:17:31.11\00:17:33.58
I will praise You
as long as I live,
00:17:33.62\00:17:36.69
and in Your name I
will lift up my hands."
00:17:36.72\00:17:42.09
Do you desire to be like David,
00:17:42.12\00:17:45.76
to be God's loving
child seeking Him earnestly
00:17:45.79\00:17:50.63
a person after his own heart?
00:17:50.67\00:17:53.44
To experience the reward God has
00:17:53.47\00:17:55.97
for those who
earnestly seek Him?
00:17:56.00\00:17:58.81
Oh, I do.
00:17:58.84\00:18:00.48
Unfortunately as with
David's occasional omission
00:18:00.51\00:18:04.55
I look back over my life
00:18:04.58\00:18:06.55
and recognize
the occasional times,
00:18:06.58\00:18:09.02
I should say the many
times that I have experienced
00:18:09.05\00:18:12.09
the loss of my
passion for His presence
00:18:12.12\00:18:15.22
and I wonder
how could it happen.
00:18:15.26\00:18:18.76
Have you ever lost the rhythm
of your relationship with God?
00:18:18.79\00:18:22.33
Have you ever just awakened
one morning and wondered
00:18:22.36\00:18:25.23
what happened to your zeal
for prayer and Bible study?
00:18:25.27\00:18:28.97
The cares of this world
can be like crashing waves
00:18:29.00\00:18:32.77
that was the best of
our intentions out to see.
00:18:32.81\00:18:36.31
I can't fully
explain these cyclic rises
00:18:36.34\00:18:39.65
and falls in my
spinning earth life.
00:18:39.68\00:18:42.75
Why do I occasionally no,
00:18:42.78\00:18:45.09
even a number of
times turn my face from Him.
00:18:45.12\00:18:48.86
Oh, I believe that I'm
still headed in His direction
00:18:48.89\00:18:52.53
and that I remain His child.
00:18:52.56\00:18:54.66
But it hurts me to
disappoint my loving Father
00:18:54.73\00:18:58.10
but praise God these
reversals are short lived.
00:18:58.13\00:19:02.00
My passion for God's
presence always returns again
00:19:02.04\00:19:06.01
like a surging tidal
wave washing over me.
00:19:06.04\00:19:10.48
Let's fast
forward it to three years.
00:19:10.51\00:19:13.35
We're going to fast
forward to September 1999.
00:19:13.38\00:19:16.95
Then for the previous 18 months
00:19:16.99\00:19:19.09
I had traveled the United States
00:19:19.12\00:19:20.66
working 12 hour days,
six to seven days a week
00:19:20.69\00:19:24.89
with a start up
company in Houston, Texas.
00:19:24.93\00:19:27.50
And my demanding travel
schedule made it impossible
00:19:27.50\00:19:30.80
to attend my
Sunday keeping church.
00:19:30.83\00:19:33.00
And I've reasoned well,
00:19:33.03\00:19:34.07
this is a special
career opportunity
00:19:34.10\00:19:37.11
and I promised God it wouldn't--
00:19:37.14\00:19:39.17
it would only be
for a limited time
00:19:39.21\00:19:41.14
that I percept the
assembling of the saints.
00:19:41.18\00:19:44.28
I had also abandoned
the practice of speaking
00:19:44.31\00:19:48.55
and praying God's
promises back to Him.
00:19:48.58\00:19:52.29
But I beautifully
read a chapter of the Bible
00:19:52.32\00:19:56.69
each night hoping
that that would suffice.
00:19:56.73\00:20:00.76
Lots of scripture
was hidden in my heart
00:20:00.80\00:20:03.53
but I felt
secure still unwittingly
00:20:03.57\00:20:08.17
I had unplugged
from my power source.
00:20:08.20\00:20:11.04
I was operating spiritual
battery power as my standby
00:20:11.07\00:20:16.51
and I failed to notice
how badly I needed a recharge.
00:20:16.54\00:20:20.82
Over those 18 months
00:20:20.85\00:20:22.32
my prayer life had
gradually diminished
00:20:22.35\00:20:25.09
to several minutes here
and there during the day
00:20:25.12\00:20:28.56
and the obligatory
prayer that kneels in bedtime,
00:20:28.59\00:20:32.23
you know what I
mean, those little prayers
00:20:32.26\00:20:34.56
that are often just
have for our conscious.
00:20:34.60\00:20:38.13
The scripture that I had hidden
in my heart was playing out
00:20:38.17\00:20:41.77
and God's
promises no longer sparked
00:20:41.80\00:20:43.97
my thoughts without effort.
00:20:44.01\00:20:46.21
I have been unplugged too long
00:20:46.24\00:20:48.94
and my spiritual current
was rapidly just charging.
00:20:48.98\00:20:53.31
I lamented my lost
intimacy with the Lord
00:20:53.35\00:20:56.99
and I'm embarrassed to admit it
00:20:57.02\00:20:58.69
but my prayers
became increasingly winy
00:20:58.72\00:21:02.49
as I begged God to change me
00:21:02.52\00:21:06.73
and to do something
in me while all the while
00:21:06.76\00:21:12.17
I made no sincere effort
to change my own behavior.
00:21:12.20\00:21:16.27
You know, Jesus
said in Matthew 6:33,
00:21:16.30\00:21:19.87
"Seek first the kingdom
of God in his righteousness,
00:21:19.91\00:21:24.08
and all these things
shall be added to you."
00:21:24.11\00:21:29.15
That I was
following His counsel.
00:21:29.18\00:21:31.69
Once again faulty reasoning
00:21:31.72\00:21:34.59
had caused to assign
higher priority to my job
00:21:34.62\00:21:38.29
than to seeking
God's kingdom first.
00:21:38.33\00:21:41.06
I thought I had a good excuse.
00:21:41.10\00:21:43.20
My husband JD had
joined me 12 months earlier
00:21:43.23\00:21:46.43
in becoming employed by
the same start up company
00:21:46.47\00:21:49.60
that demanded such
personal sacrifice.
00:21:49.64\00:21:52.57
And like a NASA shuttle
their success had skyrocketed
00:21:52.61\00:21:57.95
then the unthinkable happened,
they filed for bankruptcy
00:21:57.98\00:22:02.02
owing us a good deal of
money on our expense accounts
00:22:02.05\00:22:05.32
that we knew we
could never collect.
00:22:05.35\00:22:08.52
JD took temporary employment
in the panhandle of Texas
00:22:08.56\00:22:12.29
while I
scrambled to take advantage
00:22:12.33\00:22:13.93
of a business
opportunity of our own.
00:22:13.96\00:22:16.50
And to meet the mid January
00:22:16.53\00:22:18.10
launch deadline
of our new company
00:22:18.13\00:22:20.67
here I was again working
12 to 14 hours a day from home
00:22:20.70\00:22:24.81
developing business building
seminars for clients of CPAs.
00:22:24.84\00:22:29.28
So giving God empty promises
my days were consumed with work
00:22:29.31\00:22:34.48
and my nights
with pouty prayers.
00:22:34.52\00:22:37.49
I had lost my sense
of peace when I forfeited
00:22:37.52\00:22:42.09
the favor of
intimate fellowship with Him.
00:22:42.12\00:22:45.09
I knew my
spiritual apathy grieved God.
00:22:45.13\00:22:49.03
Then I remembered
00:22:49.06\00:22:50.17
how Moses had pled
for the Lord's presence
00:22:50.20\00:22:53.17
when he had prayed
for God to grant to him
00:22:53.20\00:22:57.21
and the airing
children of Israel
00:22:57.24\00:23:00.11
the return of His
presence to accompany them
00:23:00.14\00:23:03.28
as they made their
way to the promise land.
00:23:03.31\00:23:05.91
And our God of infinite
love replied in Exodus 33:14,
00:23:05.95\00:23:12.09
"My presence will go with
you, and I will give you rest."
00:23:12.12\00:23:18.96
That's what I needed.
00:23:18.99\00:23:20.90
I needed His
presence and His rest.
00:23:20.93\00:23:25.00
Walking outside
into the crisp night air
00:23:25.03\00:23:27.97
I gazed at His celestial glory.
00:23:28.00\00:23:31.24
The spectacle of
His thy host blurred
00:23:31.27\00:23:34.31
as hot stinging
tears bring my eyes
00:23:34.34\00:23:37.41
and I prayed, oh, Father,
00:23:37.45\00:23:39.78
please forgive me
forsaking my first love.
00:23:39.81\00:23:44.59
That was all I've said
00:23:44.62\00:23:46.05
but it was not all
that the Lord heard.
00:23:46.09\00:23:48.86
When troubled eyes
are turned toward heaven
00:23:48.89\00:23:52.09
the tender trickle of tears
00:23:52.13\00:23:54.10
is heard by our
loving Father as prayers.
00:23:54.13\00:23:57.57
Psalms 9:12 tell us
00:23:57.60\00:23:59.83
"He does not forget
the cry of the humble."
00:23:59.87\00:24:05.87
Misplaced priorities
and negligence of prayer
00:24:05.91\00:24:10.75
testified to a life
00:24:10.78\00:24:13.11
that was not fully
surrendered to the Lord.
00:24:13.15\00:24:16.42
I was humbled, it
was time for a change
00:24:16.45\00:24:20.66
and change was in the wind.
00:24:20.69\00:24:23.56
My passion for
His presence surged.
00:24:23.59\00:24:28.36
We're out of time
today but I hope that
00:24:28.40\00:24:32.60
you will join us next
time for the rest of the story
00:24:32.63\00:24:36.94
to see how the Lord moved
00:24:36.97\00:24:39.74
to eradicate my
spiritual apathy.
00:24:39.77\00:24:43.04
You know, I have to tell you
00:24:43.08\00:24:45.81
its a bit embarrassing
to be talking about myself
00:24:45.85\00:24:50.15
but without
sharing this with you--
00:24:50.19\00:24:53.82
I'm not doing it to--
well, it's embarrassing.
00:24:53.86\00:24:58.16
I'm not doing it for my benefit.
00:24:58.19\00:25:00.30
I'm sharing this with you
00:25:00.33\00:25:02.43
so that you can
see how God works.
00:25:02.46\00:25:06.40
I know that at least this
is how He worked in my life
00:25:06.43\00:25:10.07
and He did such an amazing
job, He changed my life totally.
00:25:10.11\00:25:15.31
When He taught me how
to press into His presence
00:25:15.34\00:25:19.21
its something that
I just cannot tell you
00:25:19.25\00:25:24.69
how much today's
church the Laodicean Church
00:25:24.72\00:25:29.36
needs to change
their prayer life.
00:25:29.39\00:25:33.23
If we have a vital prayer
life we will be on fire for God
00:25:33.26\00:25:40.20
and we will be following
00:25:40.24\00:25:41.64
in the
footsteps of Jesus Christ.
00:25:41.67\00:25:44.67
It is something
else to know that really
00:25:44.71\00:25:48.71
we are all in the same--
00:25:48.74\00:25:50.25
we're all in the same condition.
00:25:50.28\00:25:52.58
We all need more of
God. We need to know Him.
00:25:52.61\00:25:57.59
Jesus said in John 17:3,
00:25:57.62\00:26:00.22
this is eternal life to
know the one and only God
00:26:00.26\00:26:05.63
and the one whom
He sent Jesus Christ.
00:26:05.66\00:26:08.70
Let me say a
prayer for you right now
00:26:08.73\00:26:10.77
and please, join us next time.
00:26:10.80\00:26:13.97
Father, we come
in the name of Jesus
00:26:14.00\00:26:17.44
and oh, Lord, how we praise
you Father, for who You are.
00:26:17.47\00:26:23.21
We praise You
Father, for Your love.
00:26:23.24\00:26:26.45
We praise You for the
gifts of Your Son Jesus Christ
00:26:26.48\00:26:30.92
and we praise You
Father, for the gifts
00:26:30.95\00:26:33.05
of Your Holy
Spirit and Your word.
00:26:33.09\00:26:35.39
And Father, I pray
in the name of Jesus
00:26:35.42\00:26:38.49
that You will
forgive us for not being--
00:26:38.53\00:26:45.13
Lord, more humble.
00:26:45.17\00:26:46.57
For not
recognizing that Your plan
00:26:46.60\00:26:48.80
is to be totally
depended upon You.
00:26:48.84\00:26:51.67
We come now in the
name of Jesus asking that
00:26:51.71\00:26:53.91
You would change
our prayer life, Father.
00:26:53.94\00:26:56.18
Change us, O God.
00:26:56.21\00:26:58.55
And we thank
You in advance Lord,
00:26:58.58\00:27:01.15
for the answer to
the prayer of faith.
00:27:01.18\00:27:03.45
In Jesus name, amen.
00:27:03.49\00:27:06.49
Well, next time
we'll be talking about
00:27:06.52\00:27:09.89
how God eradicated this
terrible problem in my life
00:27:09.92\00:27:16.00
and I think
you're going to enjoy it.
00:27:16.03\00:27:17.90
You know, this is
an exciting teaching
00:27:17.93\00:27:20.10
I was-- I always thank God that
00:27:20.14\00:27:23.64
when He teaches me something
I want to ask Him first
00:27:23.67\00:27:28.21
show me how You got me
from point A to point B
00:27:28.24\00:27:31.98
so that I can find my way back.
00:27:32.01\00:27:35.52
I like to share what
God has shared with me
00:27:35.55\00:27:38.59
but I also want to record
it so that we can have a way,
00:27:38.62\00:27:44.69
markers if you will
for me to find my way back.
00:27:44.73\00:27:48.86
Spiritual apathy is really
a dangerous heart condition
00:27:48.90\00:27:54.07
but it is one that if we
turn to God He will eradicated
00:27:54.10\00:27:58.51
and that's what we will
be talking about next time.
00:27:58.54\00:28:01.68
Our prayer for you today
00:28:01.71\00:28:03.31
is that the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ,
00:28:03.35\00:28:05.58
the love of the
Father and the fellowship
00:28:05.61\00:28:07.38
of the Holy Spirit
is with you always.
00:28:07.42\00:28:10.19