Hang Out With God: Prayer

I will exalt you my God the king. I will praise your name Forever and Ever every day. I will praise you and explore all your name to I'm Sorry I Stole Your Name forever and ever great is the Lord and most worthy of Praise His greatness is one can it no one can fathom one generation will commend your Works to another they will all of your Mighty acts. They will speak of the Glorious Splendor of your majesty and I will meditate on your They will tell of the power of your awesome works and I will Proclaim your great Deeds. They will celebrate your abundant goodness. And joyfully Sing Your Righteous or righteousness. The Lord is gracious and compassionate slow to anger and Rich and love the Lord is good to all he has compassion and all he has made all you have made praise you oh lord your Saints will extol you. They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might so that all men may know of your Mighty acts and the Glorious Splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom and your Dominion indoors through all generations. The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made the Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bow down the eyes of all look to you and you give them their food at the proper time you open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made the Lord is near to all who call on him to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him he hears their cry and saves them the Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy My mouth will speak in Praise of the Lord let every creature praise His holy name forever and ever.

Amen, thank you. Jane. Praise be to God and all these words from Mark's gospel the 2nd chapter verses 35 through 39.

Great early in the morning. I was still dark Jesus gotta left the house and went off to a solitary place where he prayed Simon and his companions went to look for it when they found him. They exclaimed everyone is looking for you. Jesus replied. Let us go somewhere else to the nearby Villages so I can preach they're all so that is why I have come so he travel throughout Galilee preaching in their synagogues in driving out demons does the word of God for the people of God.

amen, amen

set a reminder in this new year. When is New Year things have begun were six days in already? And I don't know about you but my to do list continues to grow probably right now, even as I'm not looking at is kinda like the laundry pile if you don't look at it, it grows right out of a to-do list, I think in the same way that continues to grow in so many ways and I don't know about you but I can get so caught up in the busyness of everything that is going on that I missed the most important parts of life that is happening right under my nose right in front of me those moments that are taking place when the lives of those who are around me and the ways that God is working in my heart and life but thanks be to God. We have an example through Jesus The Weeknd learn how to follow as we continue to follow God's ways throughout this new and coming year now certainly the new year January 1st was like any other Day after December 31st of 2018 but there's something different. There's something refreshing. There's something new about a year as it begins fresh and new. I was sharing with the Celebrate Recovery Group on Monday night as we had our New Year's Eve Gathering that I love going to the gym about this time because everyone with a New Year's resolutions is already given up for the most part. The gym is practically empty. I might still be a little full for the next week or so, but resolutions tend to last about 2 weeks on average and then they're they're about done and I don't know about you but I could go over all the resolutions I've had and I called him read resolutions that I continue to Cheryl just dust off the ones from last year and I can continue this for the past year but something they got is laid upon my heart. Is that growing in faith in his son? Jesus Christ is something that not only sustains us as we go. Throughout life but it is something as we grow into the likeness of Jesus that begins to rub off on others as well. And as we begin to see the transformation that a life spent with God makes in us we begin to see the transformation that a life spent with God begins to make with others. In fact, you and I are all here this morning because somebody else who love Jesus share Jesus with you. We're all here this morning because somebody else who is invested in loving Jesus and loving others invested time and telling you we can all think of that one person or maybe a group of people or maybe it wasn't someone in particular that you can think of but you can think of certain events and certain folks that have come in along the way and you can see where God was forming you based on people who are in line with a God's spirit and gods Presence they developed what we might think of is Holy habits, right? If we think about the people that that we want to emulate that we want to be like when it comes to following Jesus we can see some patterns in their lives some holy habits that have developed over that time and we're going to learn this morning about one of those holy habits and I've created This Acronym out of habit in this first Sunday is hanging out with God or what it means to be in a life of prayer. What does it mean for us to hang out with God especially in the midst of all the to do list and all the busyness that life throws at us. Amen. How do we do that? How do we quiet ourselves as the psalmist says how to quiet ourselves and realize that God is God Be Still And know that I am God. I don't like being still you can probably tell as your head you're going back and forth as I'm up here walking back and forth. I don't like sitting still. About a year ago. My shoulder was was messed up. I have they found I have osteoarthritis in my shoulder. But in order to discover that I had to go have an MRI and oh my goodness. You know, I didn't realize that moving your big toe moves muscles in your back which mess up the image of the MRI in your shoulder and the nice technician that was running an errand and need to stop moving, please okay that you have moved your muscles around and so the image can get messed up fortunately. I only had to redo it one time, but we got through it. We got through it 45 minutes seem like about 12 days, but I made it through and I survived that but but having to stay still For that amount of time was so difficult cuz I begin to feel my muscles start to Twitch and move and then I think I'm itching and like, oh my gosh, you're not itching what's going on in so you're moving all over so I can't sit still is hard to sit still it's even more difficult, but it's even more difficult for me to be quiet.

All right. I know it's hard to believe you know, but I struggle with that. Like I'm not that I love hearing my own voice. I really do not I can't stand hearing my own voice don't want to self-incriminate.

Show me over time are new DJ. I can fill you with two of these and one of these so do this more than this course my mother as I was growing up would remind me of that as well. So what profession did I enter into? Well, I entered into being a pastor and a professional counselor. It is hard to listen to people sometimes right especially when you want to hear yourself, but it's even harder to listen to the still small voice of God, isn't it? Because we have a lot of competing voices that we're listening to we have a lot of competing activities and things surrounding us. They were trying to pay attention to him being tuned to if your apparent you're trying hard to be a parent your your spouse. You tried hard to be a spouse if your if you have a job you're trying hard to do your job. If you're doing this or that you're trying to do all of these things in your trying to do them all very well and in the midst of The busyness of the rush of Life were called to be still and to know that God is God. Boy, it's difficult. But there's a pattern that we can see in the life of Jesus now. I love Mark's gospel. I Love The Gospel of Mark because it's fast-paced at it, and it's always moving.

We Jesus did that this happened version of the gospel because you want to read the whole book or you can get the milk which notes right you don't but but I like to go through and and see Mark's kind of fast-paced. But even in the midst of that I've learned to see that there's a lot to be gleaned from all the tappening in between the lines. We can see this in Mark's gospel. We can see it in the other three gospels as well that when Jesus wasn't performing Miracles. What was he doing? He was praying he was yeah, that's right. Jesus was spending time with the father. Jesus was spending time in the presence of God the father at the height of Jesus ministry. He was spending time with God and he was interrupted at times to go and perform these miracles in these healings and things that took place but almost in every instance. If you go back and read through the scripture in the stories of Jesus performing Miracles, you'll see that before almost every single one of them. He was in a secluded quiet place. He was withdrawn to spend time alone with God the Father. Jesus was in a place where he knew that he had to kind of recharge for what was next. I do not like leaving my house without my cell phone to you. But what's even worse than leaving my house without my cell phone is leaving the house to go on a trip and realizing I forgot my charger.

I feel lost if I don't have my cell phone up and maybe that's an indication of some. Issue, I have I don't know what I feel lost. If I don't have my phone attached to my hip I'm so used to that thing. Right? In fact, you can get those they call him Phantom vibrations R. I think my phone is in my pocket my Lego Starfire and my phone's not there always somebody texting me. Oh my goodness, right but we get so attached to these darn things that when the battery goes out.

In fact, I saw a thing on on Facebook F while I read it on my phone. I saw something on Facebook that said instead of taking the iPad away or the tablet away from the kids. You should take your charger instead because your pick a charger to get hold of my goodness what I'm going to do, but I think the same is true for us adults, right? I mean if it were really true about it, this can be very difficult, but we'll see where that goes. But the idea that are so connected. They're almost disconnected is something else but this idea that I need that charger to recharge my cell phone right in order for my cell phone to do what it was intended to do. I need to charge the battery and plugging in an iPhone charger into an Android phone isn't going to do it right you got to have the right kind of charger, right? If you have no idea what I'm talking about talk to the grandkids talk to the nieces and nephews buildup clue year real quick. But you need the right kind of charger to get the right kind of charge. In fact, I could stop at a cheapo dollar store somewhere. I can get a cheap charger for a couple of bucks that will fit my particular device. But because it is not made by the same manufacturer it will not charge my device at the same rate that the original charger would in fact, sometimes it can even do damage I've heard so, how does this relate? How do we try to connect with so many things in our lives when our battery is drained? And we instead of going to God In Prayer instead of going to our Heavenly Father is Jesus. Did we seek other avenues? Maybe it's through a TV show. Maybe we binge watch some Netflix shows or something which everything wrong with that. It's a good thing. when we do it in

Let me do things in place of going to God first. We begin to make Idols out of these things, right and we begin to kind of take ourselves in a different direction for some of us. We make ourselves even busier.

In efforts to get away from the busyness doesn't make sense, but it's what we do. We might go to the office just to chill out for a minute. I've been guilty of this. I'm just going to go in the office and maybe do some reading one. I won't cuz the phone's going to ring and I'm going to check my email and I'm going to be diving back into work and I'll be just as busy as I was before right never done that rather than taking a timeout and simply hanging with the father hanging with God. You're so busy doing that. We haven't had time to Simply Be. We're so busy doing that. We haven't had time to Simply Be noticed that the song that says as he speaking for God he says.

And you'll know that I'm God. No, he says be still be it's not as much about doing as it is about being it's not as much about what we do, but because here's the thing just like that cell phone was created for that specific charger. We were created to be recharged by God and God's holy spirit. We were created to be recharged by the interactions that we have with other believers with other people in general and with God's holy spirit in specific and how do we get that recharge that we need? Well, it isn't about playing some elaborate prayer that we learned in Aramaic when we took Seminary classes. It's not about how many times we can memorize certain passages of scripture. Although that is important and certainly valuable. It's not about how many times we go to church or how well we can sing Amazing Grace. It's not about how much weed how how much we offered our hearts to the presence of God in our lives. Where are you? And I that we were created in the image of God and that we were created for relationship with him and with one another when we begin to realize our value our purpose begins to come into sight. When we realized who we are, we know more about what it is. We're called to do right when you realize who we are and we realize that connection with God just as Jesus did so many times with the fathers wrote his ministry. They were important things to be done. There were people who need to be healed there were lying and needing to be touched and changed but Jesus knew that he couldn't do that. If he didn't connect with the father Jesus knew that there was no way that he was going to be able to engage in the ministry that he was called to do if he wasn't connecting with God the Father. In fact on the night of his betrayal and and his arrest in before he was crucified. What was Jesus doing? He was in The Garden of Gethsemane writing his will know he wasn't he wasn't worried about that. He was there praying to the father. He was praying for connecting with God. He wasn't out there complaining about those are going to come in and take him out. He wasn't going to run. Taking me out. Can you believe it? They're going to crucify it just a terrible thing and and being worried about that. I'm sure he had anguish in him because that's the Gospel of Luke tells us Jesus Frontier that whereas if great drops of blood were coming out of his eyes. It means what that means is that she was praying a prayer of deep deep. Deep deep sorrow but in his prayer Jesus knew Jesus knew that if he connected with God the father that he would have the strength. To endure. What was next? For Jesus prayed not my will. But your will be done. Friends, that is the hardest prayer that you and I may ever pray. That our will would not be done. But that God's will would be done. That is difficult for us to pray but we gained a supernatural strength to be able to pray that and to endure that prayer when we seek God first. Jesus said seek God's kingdom first and his righteousness and all of these things will be added to you. Do you want to live that a life that is abundant and full of joy and peace you want to live a life that is full of the joy of the Lord than connect with Jesus first. There's something to be said about that. In my time is a pastor. I've heard people come up with some with some from churches where I've been a pastor and others from churches where they have other pastors and they come up and my pastor. I'm just not feeling fed. What are you going to the table? If you're just sitting and you're not doing anything and you're not going to the Lord, of course, you're not fed, because you're not going to God. You're not going to the stores. It's like going into Radio Shack or going into that. I just dated myself a little bit with a younger kid Apple Store with your iPhone and 10K. My battery is dead. And the kid behind the counter. Did you charge it when I didn't think to do that? Well, of course, you got to go charge it right? Well, I'm not experiencing God's presence in my life. Will have you sought after God? And Have you listened to God speaking to you? Because God will God will speak to you and I'm not saying that it's some magic formula that right. Now if you just prayed for prayer that I have boxed up for you. All of a sudden is God's going to speak to and everything's going to be all peaches and roses and everything's all great. And perfect. I'm not suggesting that in fact The Pursuit Of God is a continual life on a pursuit to continue to realize that God is actually been pursuing us the whole time. Not to track us down and hunt us down but to embrace us into love us. But when we seek after God space and we continually and fervently pray. We say God not my will but your will be done when we say God. I'm not feeling your presence and we're honest with him because guess what God already knows you're just saying it out loud what God already knows a man but to say God, I'm not feeling your presents right now. Is it okay if it is, all right to say God. I haven't felt your presence in a while and I need to experience your presence. God bring me your peace. And you just might hear that still small voice saying spend more time with me and I'll be there. I've been here all along. I've been right here with you. Jesus prayed a heartfelt prayer. In fact, it is also in the Psalms it is while Jesus was on the cross and he yelled for Lama sabachthani, which means my God my God. Why have you forsaken me? Jesus cries out those words and their from the hundred and twenty first song I Believe And those words are words in the song, which would have been the prayer-book of Jesus in the early Jewish people that was there proof of Jesus prayed that very clear that the psalmist wrote some 600 years before Jesus and wrote those words in pain. Jesus praise goes on the cross my God my God. Why did you leave me? My God my God. Why did you abandon me? Jesus felt abandoned Jesus felt left behind but Jesus cried out to God and friends. Sometimes are hanging out with God is simply crying out to say God. Where in the world are you? That is an okay prayer to pray. Amen.

It is okay to say God. I'm not experiencing your presents right now God. I'm not feeling you right now and to seek Him scripture tells us if we seek the Lord with all our heart. We will find God. Do you want to find God I want to find God In fact when we seek to find God we realize I got it already been found. We just needed to look where we haven't been looking a lot of times friends. I've realized that in my search for God's present. All I need to do is look in the faces of the people that are surrounding me. All I need to do is look at the compassion and the love and the humility and the grace.

The people offer one another in times of Challenge and struggle and tragedy. All I need to do is look at the Sea of Faces that come around to support a family in their time of morning to support an individual in their time of greatest need to support one another when they received the news that their illness is terminal. Those moments those moments when the rug is pulled out from underneath someone and the church begins to Rally the church not only begins to pray but the church shows up in force somebody out but to forced butt in force in the force of Love rather than the force of love because love is the force that will overcome any fear and darkness. It is the Light of Christ through the love of Christ. They will cast out any and all fear. When I am afraid. I need people around me when I feel lonely. I need to be reminded that I'm not alone when I feel worthless. I need someone to remind me of my value and my word when I feel lost and abandoned. I need to be reminded that I have been found and I have been redeemed. Yes, even pastors experience those moments, but it's through hanging out with God through learning to engage in prayer. And as we shared with the children earlier prayers a two-part thing, it's not only speaking to God, but it's listening to God. How do we listen to God? But we can begin our prayer in a way that as Jane read for us from 145th song as we heard those words. We heard. songs of praise we heard songs of joy Sometimes you don't feel like praising God, but even in the midst of that your prayer begins to change. I know when I was experiencing a dark time in my life a few years ago. I was experiencing a funk at this point looking back at it was a form of maybe even clinical depression. And during that time I was encouraged and challenged by my friends to seek God and to offer praise to God even when I didn't feel like it. So I turn to the songs in Psalm 41 45 was one such song. I will exalt you my God the king. I will praise your name Forever and Ever every day. I will praise you. I didn't feel like praising God everyday, but I continued to speak these words into offer these prayers. God you are great. You are greater than what I am going through right now. I'm having trouble believing that right now God, but I'm going to continue to stand on this promise that you are greater than my circumstances. Again friends when we begin with an attitude of Praise my prayers began to be formed and changed and as I begin to praise God my prayers began to change and guess what I wasn't even praying for myself anymore. I was praying for others and I realize at the end of my prayer that what I was going through yes as difficult as it wasn't wasn't magically taken away from me or anything like that. But in the midst of going through that time of struggle and challenge in my life, I began to focus my heart in my prayer life where it needed to be and that was praying for others. And as I prayed for others, I began to experience healing and wholeness in my own heart in my own life and it all began with praise. It all began with praise. It's amazing how our Focus begins to change so friend if you're going through a dark difficult time today, if things seem like they're just not working out the way that you intended them to be a God feels like God is a billion miles away from you right now. Offer a prayer of praise to God not in the sense that you're feeling it even it cuz you may not be but to be able to praise God in the say God. I believe help my unbelief. God I'm struggling to find you. Will you show up. I will praise you because you have promise me that you will show up now follow through with your promise God. It's okay to pray that you may not feel qualified to do it. But God is already qualified you to do so, he's given us that promise in his word and through the example of other Christians who have gone through life. So you begin this 2019 and You Begin the set of holy crap. It's let us begin with hanging out with God in the midst of our pain new mist of our struggles and in the midst of our Mountain Top experience. Because even at the highest Heights in the deepest valleys we tend to forget about the God who meets Us in both of those places. Maybe remember God's presence as we wanted this new year a man. Will you join with me in prayer? Loving God we praise you for your presence God. I thank you that you never leave us alone. thank you God that even though many times our prayers may seem trite or our prayers made may even seem to be

in vain Thank God you hear all of our prayers? Even if we have to fake it till we make it you hear us when we cry out to you. Oh God. You take our doubt you take our despair. You take our shame. You take our grief to take our anxiety you take our sin? Did you bear it upon yourself?

Can you remind us in the images across that you are there ready to embrace us? Your goal is not to condemn us. Your goal is to love us. And for us to experience that love God, I pray for anyone anywhere especially here in our midst. Oh God for those that may be going through a time of difficulty where they just aren't experiencing your presents the way that they once have or maybe it feels like you've alienated them Lord. I pray that your presence would be made known to them. Help us all to listen intently as we hear that still small voice speaking to us. to offer praise in the midst of the storm to seek you when it seems feudal to continue to go to our knees when the world is calling us to run.

to Simply Be Still and to know that you our God We pray this. The name of your son Jesus who taught all of us to pray as we pray together Our Father who art in heaven Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation. But Deliver Us from Evil dying is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Amen.

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