November 22, 2024 • 14 mins
Focusing on God rather than your problems means shifting your attention from life's challenges to the greatness, power, and faithfulness of God. It is an act of trust and faith, believing that God is sovereign and capable of handling all difficulties.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
I'm young and I'm soldiers, made by decisions, a black
out and used to my back on religion. Don't have
no degree. I'm someone nave. I am paid it as.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Far on my phone lately, that ship and been cured
in me fire.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
I lifted my head and the world is on fire,
stred in my heart, feeling my pones.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
I just don't know what to say. Maybe Ra, pray.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
You, maybe hy I have never evening, you know, but
I'm not a.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
One of the best pieces of advice I've ever received
in my life was take it to Jesus. Take everything
to Jesus. I once went through a very dark time
in my life, and I want to thank the Lord
for planting godly men and women around me who encouraged
me to seek Jesus rather than to seek an answer.
(01:53):
I was encouraged to seek Jesus rather than to search
for explanations. Because you see, the tint we all face
when we're in a challenging place is that we want
to know how we got here. We want to know
why God let this happen, and we want to know
when will God make a way out. We want to
(02:14):
rationalize everything and understand it all. But The truth we
need to come to accept is that God does not
have to explain himself. He does not have to reduce
himself to do things in a manner that we can understand.
The Lord has a completely different vantage point from all
of us. He sees the past, he sees the present,
(02:36):
and he sees the future. He sees the enemy's attacks,
he sees our weaknesses and our flaws. He sees our hearts.
God sees so much more than we will ever see.
So we can't expect to understand the ways of an
all seeing God. We can't expect to understand the ways
(02:56):
of an all knowing God. We simply have to t
trust that God is faithful. God is good, and he's
good all the time. God is loving, and he's in control.
Isaiah chapter fifty five, verse eight to nine says, for
my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways
(03:18):
my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are
higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than
your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. Now,
I want to encourage you today and tell you that
whatever your problem is, whatever your problem may look like,
don't spend your energy looking for answers. Instead, spend your
(03:42):
energy looking for Jesus Christ. Don't spend your energy looking
for an explanation or trying to reason about why this
happened or why it didn't happen. No, instead seek Jesus Christ.
When God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham did not
spend his energy pleading with God not to take his son. Nope.
(04:05):
What he did was he trusted God. When Paul and
Silas were beaten, chained, and imprisoned, they did not spend
their energy trying to work out how exactly they got
themselves into this predicament. No, they sought after the Lord.
And so I'm talking to you right now. If you're
(04:25):
in a difficult place, what you must do is trust
in the Lord. Take your problems to Jesus, because if
you try and handle things with your own strength, you
will find it impossible to win. You're not strong enough
to live this life with your own strength. You're not
(04:46):
wise enough to survive this life with your own wisdom.
You need Jesus Christ. We all need him. And because
you need Jesus Christ, focus on him instead of on
the problem. Focus on Jesus instead of that mountain that's
(05:08):
before you. I encourage you, people of God, to hold
onto the Word of God, hold onto these promises, and
let them stir up your spirit. No longer should you
be fearful and timid. No longer should you consider yourself
helpless and powerless. Jesus Christ has given us authority, the
(05:34):
authority to trample on the devil and his demons. He
has given us the authority to overcome all power of
the enemy. And so I simply want you to know
that it's not your portion to be fearful as a
child of God. It's not your portion to be a
(05:54):
timid Christian. But Jesus Christ, the Lord of Lords and
King of kings, he has said, I have given you
authority to trample on snakes and scorpions, and to overcome
all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you.
Let this be the reason why you are fearless and bold.
(06:21):
Let this be the reason why you don't give up
in the face of adversity. And let this promise in
Luke ten verse nineteen be the reason that you pray
with power. And so, people of God, I want to
remind you that we gain strength, courage, boldness when we
(06:42):
know the word of God and practice prayer. So when
you think of power, when you think of courage and strength,
think of prayer. When you think of prayer, think of power,
think of strength and courage. Because as children of God,
(07:03):
when we pray, that's when we are empowered. That's when
we are revitalized. More prayer, more power. If you want
more power, pray more. That is exactly why the Bible
tells us to pray without ceasing. This is why the
Bible tells us to watch and pray lest you enter
(07:26):
into temptation, or to continue steadfastly in prayer. It's all
because there is power. There is power when you pray. Now,
let's pray, King Jesus, with all of my heart and soul.
I declare that I need you. I need your mercy,
(07:50):
I need your strength, I need your favor and your grace.
I need you, Lord, because your word. In Psalm forty
verses one to three, it says I waited patiently for
the Lord. He inclined to me and heard my crime.
He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out
of the miriy bog, and set my feet upon a rock,
(08:13):
making my steps secure. He put a new song in
my mouth. A song of praise to our God. Many
will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord. Indeed, God,
I wait patiently for you. You alone can place my
feet on steady ground and establish my way. And so Lord,
(08:35):
right now I praise you. I cast my burdens on you,
because in this life I acknowledge that I need your strength,
Lord Jesus, I need your grace and your mercy, because
there are some problems and some difficulties that I cannot
overcome on my own. I need your strength.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
I need your mercy.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Lord. I ask that you would stand with me in
times of difficulty. I pray that you would stand with
me always Psalm seventy three, Verses twenty three to twenty six. Nevertheless,
I am continually with you. You hold my right hand,
You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will
(09:21):
receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but You,
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh in my heart may fail, but God is
the strength of my heart and my portion forever. I
praise you Lord for your faithfulness. I pray that the
(09:43):
Holy Spirit would ignite a righteous and holy fire.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
In my life.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
Holy Spirit, Help me to be diligent with my walk
with Christ. Help me never to be half hearted with
my prayer life. Help me to be vigilant and alert
in the spirit. Because the enemy, he's out there like
a roaring lion. He's seeking whom he may devour. Protect me. Father,
(10:09):
I pray that I would not be consumed by thoughts
of fear, or anxiety or worry. I pray that my
mind would be set on things above, on heavenly things,
and not on things on this earth. Lord Jesus, make
me a believer who is on fire for you. I
want to burn with a pure and holy passion. Remove
(10:29):
everything that may try to hinder me from a closer
walk with God. Your word. In Psalm one, verses one
and two, it says, I lift up my eyes to
the hill. From where does my help come. My help
comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. I
look to you, Lord Jesus, So God, please help me
(10:50):
to overcome adversity. I know that the strength for me
to conquer anything is drawn from you, King Jesus, So
I will stand on your word forever. Father. I pray
that my life would never be one that is ruled
by fear. I pray to live a life full of faith,
a life that is led by the Holy Spirit. Lord.
(11:11):
I accept that I cannot see the future in its entirety.
You're the one who sees all and who knows all,
and for that reason I surrender to your plan for
my life. I know and trust that You're always working
behind the scenes so that all things will work together
(11:33):
for my good. I pray and declare Romans Chapter eight,
verses thirty one to thirty four. What then, shall we
say to these things? If God is for us, who
can be against us? He who did not spare his
own son, but gave him up for us all, How
will he not also, with him graciously give us all things.
(11:58):
Who shall bring any charge against God's elect It is
God who justifies who is to condemn. Jesus Christ is
the one who died more than that, who was raised,
who was at the right hand of God, who indeed
is interceding for us. God, I thank you for your
precious word, and I thank you for listening to my prayer.
(12:22):
In Jesus' name, I prayer Amen, for my thoughts are
not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, declares
the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways, and my
thoughts higher than your thoughts your word. In Psalm forty,
(12:47):
verses one to three, it says I waited patiently for
the Lord. He inclined to me and heard my crime.
He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out
of the miri bog, and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure. He put a new song in
my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many
(13:10):
will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord,
Psalm seventy three, verses twenty three to twenty six. Nevertheless,
I am continually with you. You hold my right hand,
You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will
receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you,
(13:32):
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is
the strength of my heart and my portion.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Forever have you heard Timber Maybe up pay who carry
(14:12):
me up? Bay Caver believed in you know that I'm
gonna want to call me? Can we have a lot
of mondays.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Let's talk about freedom. Everyone pays, everyone pays In the end,
h
I'm young and I'm soldiers, made by decisions, a black
out and used to my back on religion. Don't have
no degree. I'm someone nave. I am paid it as.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Far on my phone lately, that ship and been cured
in me fire.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
I lifted my head and the world is on fire,
stred in my heart, feeling my pones.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
I just don't know what to say. Maybe Ra, pray.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
You, maybe hy I have never evening, you know, but
I'm not a.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
One of the best pieces of advice I've ever received
in my life was take it to Jesus. Take everything
to Jesus. I once went through a very dark time
in my life, and I want to thank the Lord
for planting godly men and women around me who encouraged
me to seek Jesus rather than to seek an answer.
(01:53):
I was encouraged to seek Jesus rather than to search
for explanations. Because you see, the tint we all face
when we're in a challenging place is that we want
to know how we got here. We want to know
why God let this happen, and we want to know
when will God make a way out. We want to
(02:14):
rationalize everything and understand it all. But The truth we
need to come to accept is that God does not
have to explain himself. He does not have to reduce
himself to do things in a manner that we can understand.
The Lord has a completely different vantage point from all
of us. He sees the past, he sees the present,
(02:36):
and he sees the future. He sees the enemy's attacks,
he sees our weaknesses and our flaws. He sees our hearts.
God sees so much more than we will ever see.
So we can't expect to understand the ways of an
all seeing God. We can't expect to understand the ways
(02:56):
of an all knowing God. We simply have to t
trust that God is faithful. God is good, and he's
good all the time. God is loving, and he's in control.
Isaiah chapter fifty five, verse eight to nine says, for
my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways
(03:18):
my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are
higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than
your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. Now,
I want to encourage you today and tell you that
whatever your problem is, whatever your problem may look like,
don't spend your energy looking for answers. Instead, spend your
(03:42):
energy looking for Jesus Christ. Don't spend your energy looking
for an explanation or trying to reason about why this
happened or why it didn't happen. No, instead seek Jesus Christ.
When God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham did not
spend his energy pleading with God not to take his son. Nope.
(04:05):
What he did was he trusted God. When Paul and
Silas were beaten, chained, and imprisoned, they did not spend
their energy trying to work out how exactly they got
themselves into this predicament. No, they sought after the Lord.
And so I'm talking to you right now. If you're
(04:25):
in a difficult place, what you must do is trust
in the Lord. Take your problems to Jesus, because if
you try and handle things with your own strength, you
will find it impossible to win. You're not strong enough
to live this life with your own strength. You're not
(04:46):
wise enough to survive this life with your own wisdom.
You need Jesus Christ. We all need him. And because
you need Jesus Christ, focus on him instead of on
the problem. Focus on Jesus instead of that mountain that's
(05:08):
before you. I encourage you, people of God, to hold
onto the Word of God, hold onto these promises, and
let them stir up your spirit. No longer should you
be fearful and timid. No longer should you consider yourself
helpless and powerless. Jesus Christ has given us authority, the
(05:34):
authority to trample on the devil and his demons. He
has given us the authority to overcome all power of
the enemy. And so I simply want you to know
that it's not your portion to be fearful as a
child of God. It's not your portion to be a
(05:54):
timid Christian. But Jesus Christ, the Lord of Lords and
King of kings, he has said, I have given you
authority to trample on snakes and scorpions, and to overcome
all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you.
Let this be the reason why you are fearless and bold.
(06:21):
Let this be the reason why you don't give up
in the face of adversity. And let this promise in
Luke ten verse nineteen be the reason that you pray
with power. And so, people of God, I want to
remind you that we gain strength, courage, boldness when we
(06:42):
know the word of God and practice prayer. So when
you think of power, when you think of courage and strength,
think of prayer. When you think of prayer, think of power,
think of strength and courage. Because as children of God,
(07:03):
when we pray, that's when we are empowered. That's when
we are revitalized. More prayer, more power. If you want
more power, pray more. That is exactly why the Bible
tells us to pray without ceasing. This is why the
Bible tells us to watch and pray lest you enter
(07:26):
into temptation, or to continue steadfastly in prayer. It's all
because there is power. There is power when you pray. Now,
let's pray, King Jesus, with all of my heart and soul.
I declare that I need you. I need your mercy,
(07:50):
I need your strength, I need your favor and your grace.
I need you, Lord, because your word. In Psalm forty
verses one to three, it says I waited patiently for
the Lord. He inclined to me and heard my crime.
He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out
of the miriy bog, and set my feet upon a rock,
(08:13):
making my steps secure. He put a new song in
my mouth. A song of praise to our God. Many
will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord. Indeed, God,
I wait patiently for you. You alone can place my
feet on steady ground and establish my way. And so Lord,
(08:35):
right now I praise you. I cast my burdens on you,
because in this life I acknowledge that I need your strength,
Lord Jesus, I need your grace and your mercy, because
there are some problems and some difficulties that I cannot
overcome on my own. I need your strength.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
I need your mercy.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Lord. I ask that you would stand with me in
times of difficulty. I pray that you would stand with
me always Psalm seventy three, Verses twenty three to twenty six. Nevertheless,
I am continually with you. You hold my right hand,
You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will
(09:21):
receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but You,
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh in my heart may fail, but God is
the strength of my heart and my portion forever. I
praise you Lord for your faithfulness. I pray that the
(09:43):
Holy Spirit would ignite a righteous and holy fire.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
In my life.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
Holy Spirit, Help me to be diligent with my walk
with Christ. Help me never to be half hearted with
my prayer life. Help me to be vigilant and alert
in the spirit. Because the enemy, he's out there like
a roaring lion. He's seeking whom he may devour. Protect me. Father,
(10:09):
I pray that I would not be consumed by thoughts
of fear, or anxiety or worry. I pray that my
mind would be set on things above, on heavenly things,
and not on things on this earth. Lord Jesus, make
me a believer who is on fire for you. I
want to burn with a pure and holy passion. Remove
(10:29):
everything that may try to hinder me from a closer
walk with God. Your word. In Psalm one, verses one
and two, it says, I lift up my eyes to
the hill. From where does my help come. My help
comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. I
look to you, Lord Jesus, So God, please help me
(10:50):
to overcome adversity. I know that the strength for me
to conquer anything is drawn from you, King Jesus, So
I will stand on your word forever. Father. I pray
that my life would never be one that is ruled
by fear. I pray to live a life full of faith,
a life that is led by the Holy Spirit. Lord.
(11:11):
I accept that I cannot see the future in its entirety.
You're the one who sees all and who knows all,
and for that reason I surrender to your plan for
my life. I know and trust that You're always working
behind the scenes so that all things will work together
(11:33):
for my good. I pray and declare Romans Chapter eight,
verses thirty one to thirty four. What then, shall we
say to these things? If God is for us, who
can be against us? He who did not spare his
own son, but gave him up for us all, How
will he not also, with him graciously give us all things.
(11:58):
Who shall bring any charge against God's elect It is
God who justifies who is to condemn. Jesus Christ is
the one who died more than that, who was raised,
who was at the right hand of God, who indeed
is interceding for us. God, I thank you for your
precious word, and I thank you for listening to my prayer.
(12:22):
In Jesus' name, I prayer Amen, for my thoughts are
not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, declares
the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways, and my
thoughts higher than your thoughts your word. In Psalm forty,
(12:47):
verses one to three, it says I waited patiently for
the Lord. He inclined to me and heard my crime.
He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out
of the miri bog, and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure. He put a new song in
my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many
(13:10):
will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord,
Psalm seventy three, verses twenty three to twenty six. Nevertheless,
I am continually with you. You hold my right hand,
You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will
receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you,
(13:32):
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is
the strength of my heart and my portion.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Forever have you heard Timber Maybe up pay who carry
(14:12):
me up? Bay Caver believed in you know that I'm
gonna want to call me? Can we have a lot
of mondays.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Let's talk about freedom. Everyone pays, everyone pays In the end,
h
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