Alone with the Almighty, Part 6

Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for today, a day Lord that we can come and worship you and we thank you that we have gathered together for in your sovereign plan, you have designed this day for the people that are here, that we might hear from your word those truths you want us to learn. And so we pray that you'd bless our time together this morning because you are the central focus of all that we say and do. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Over the past few weeks, many of you have come and commented about how this most recent series has meant a lot to you in your own life personally, and I appreciate that and I'm glad that God is stretching you as we spend time in our brief, which was intended to be a brief, but has become a very long break from our study in the book of Genesis.

And yet, I think it's imperative for us to understand some of the great principles that God has outlined in his word that we might understand more of who he is by being alone with the Almighty. I'm reminded of the words written by Richard Foster that go as follows, Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people or gifted people, but for deep people. That's true.

God is looking for deep people, people who search the deep things of God. We don't need any more superficial kind of people. We don't need any more intelligent people. We don't even need gifted people. We just need people who know what it means to walk with God, to know him in a deep and intimate way. And for that we have taken a break from our study of Genesis to help you understand what it means to know God in a very deep way. How you can be alone with the Almighty and glean from him those spiritual truths that will grow you deep in your walk with the Lord.

We've been looking at the essence of my time with him. Next week we'll move on to the relevance of that time and then the week after that the consequences of that time. But we spent the bulk of our time on the essence of that time to help you understand what are the key components of your time with God. It began with the primacy of salvation. You need to be born again. We move from there to look at the responsibility of preparation, how to prepare yourself to to be alone with God.

And there we move to the centrality of revelation, the importance of God's Word as its supreme influence in our life. Then to the necessity of communication. How do we actually communicate with God? What is it God wants us to say to him? How do we actually talk with God? Today we will cover Lord willing the last three principles in the essence of our time with him by looking at the simplicity of memorization, the priority of meditation, and the duty of application. And that will conclude our study of point number one, the essence of my time with him.

Turn with me in your Bible to Proverbs chapter 4 if you would. Proverbs chapter 4. The Bible says in Colossians chapter 3 verse number 16 that we are to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly.

That is we are to let God's Word be at home in our hearts. God's Word is not to to be a stranger to us. God's Word is not to be that some kind of foreign object to us, but it actually is to be so at home in our lives that we feel comfortable in God's Word and God's Word feels comfortable being in us. It's something that that speaks volumes to the believer. And if Christ's Word dwells in you richly, abundantly, if you're filled up with God's Word, if you're absorbed with God's Word, and then you begin to live as God wants you to live.

And so for that to happen, we must understand the simplicity of memorization. And I call it the simplicity of memorization because memorizing the Bible is not difficult at all. All you have to do is go to our Awana ministry on Wednesday night and see three-year-old kids, four-year-old kids, five-year-old kids memorizing the Word of God and those who listen to them helping teach them the principles of the Word of God. We need to realize that you're never too old to memorize the Bible. And yet so many of us stop memorizing when we get out of that Awana quote stage or that elementary stage or that high school stage.

We feel that somehow we have graduated beyond that and then we stop memorizing Scripture. I want you to see today that that memorization will lead to meditation. Meditation will lead to mortification and mortification will lead to manifestation of the Word of God. You need to understand that. If we're gonna put off the sin that so easily besets us, there needs to be that process of memorization that leads me to meditation which will inevitably lead me to mortification which will inevitably lead me to the manifestation of God through my life.

Proverbs chapter 4 verse number 4 says this Solomon speaking of his father He says then he taught me and said to me let your heart hold fast my words Let your heart grasp my words seize them retain them keep my commandments and live Keep my commandments and live Solomon says his dad taught him that his dad of course was was King David Thought him about the importance of holding God's Word Grasping it so that it grasps you Seizing it so that it seizes you holding fast the commands of God Yesterday we had the wonderful opportunity of celebrating with one of our elders his 50th wedding anniversary and it was a great time of celebration as we heard testimony as to the impact of Howl of Maryland roach in the lives of many people but if you know how At all, you know that how loves to memorize scripture, but he's not very good at it So he writes music To scripture in order that he might sing it and as he sings it He memorizes it and he made a tape for my family Of all these scripture references put to music There's no piano.

There's no background music. It's just how roach and his Bible and so he gave it to me and my wife and I put it in our cassette player on the way home from church one night and Hear how was singing all these scriptural songs and and and all of a sudden my kids began to pick up the verses very quickly as They too, then would begin to sing the songs of scripture And my wife said to him and not too long ago She says how you know what you need to do is you need to go through the Iwana handbook and put the music all those verses Put them on tape so we can put it in and our kids can learn to sing the scripture But it's important for us to realize that that the memorization of scripture does several things in our life It's not a difficult thing to do to memorize the Bible But let me give you six principles that will help you understand The simplicity of memorization as it relates to your life in the mind Whenever you memorize scripture the very first thing you understand that your faith is fortified your faith is Fortified turn with me to Proverbs chapter 22 Proverbs chapter 22 Verse number 17 Says this incline your ear and hear the words of the wise and apply your mind to my knowledge For it will be pleasant if you keep them within you that's the memorization That they may be ready on your lips so that your trust may be in the Lord Do you know that when you memorize the Word of God?

It enhances your trust in God Your faith becomes fortified Because when you need God the most in the midst of a difficult situation in the midst of some adverse circumstance God brings his word to your memory and you're able to fortify your faith because it is steadfast in the Word of God The Bible tells us that when you memorize God's Word you learn to trust God more Is it not true that there are many people? who claim the name of Christ who spend very little time memorizing Scripture and So when heartache comes their way They tend to falter don't they?

The Bible says that if you're a man or woman who who holds God's Word in you If you're the kind of person who spends time memorizing the Word of God so that it's captured your heart It's seized you it's crafts you Then when difficulty comes Those words will be ready on your lips So that you will learn to trust the Lord Your faith is fortified number two sin is squelched Sin is squelched We all have a sin problem We all have that in common And yet we know what's on 119 11 says if we treasure God's Word in our heart so that we don't sin Against the Lord God But how many of us know what Proverbs chapter 7 says turn with me there if you would Proverbs chapter 7 And listen to Solomon's instructions in verse number one my son keep my words and treasure my commandments within you that again is Memorization that again is knowing the Word of God in such a way that it seized you Keep my commandments and live and my teaching as the apple of your eye bind them on your fingers Write them on the tablet of your heart say to wisdom.

You are my sister and co understanding your intimate friend That they may keep you from an adulterous from the foreigner who flatters with her words Why do you keep God's Word within you? Why do you treasure the Word of God? Why do you seek her as a sister bind her around your fingers? Know her intimately why because it keeps you from the adulterous woman. That's why When you need it the most it's there and God's Word then begins to dwell in You richly over to Proverbs chapter 6 verse number 20 my son Observe the commandment of your father and do not forsake the teaching of your mother bind them continually on your heart Tie them around your neck when you walk about they will guide you when you sleep They will watch over you and when you awake they will talk to you For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light and reproofs for discipline are the way of life to keep you from the evil woman from the smooth tongue of the adulterous God's Word does that One thing We need to have done to us and that is to keep us from sin Keep us from going the wrong direction bind it around your heart hold fast to its teaching and sin becomes squelched Find me a man who falls after an adulterous Woman find me a man who falls readily in the sin and I'll show you a man who has ceased the memorization of Scripture Holding it dear in his heart Treating God's Word as his sister and most intimate friend Number three not only is our faith fortified and sin squelched but prayer is Proper Prayer is proper If prayer is proper prayer will be purposeful and a prayer is purposeful prayer will be potent The reason our prayer life is impotent and not potent is because our prayer life isn't proper The reason our prayer life isn't proper is because we don't know the Word of God If you know the Word of God and have memorized the Word of God, you know how you ought to pray Turn with me to John chapter 15 for a moment John chapter 15 very familiar words verse number 7 If you abide in me and my words abide in you ask whatever you wish and it shall be done for you Jesus says if my words remain in you and you remain in my word That is if God's Word is at home in your heart That is if you have memorized the Word of God so that it's easily on your lips and keeps you from sin You can ask whatever you want and you'll get it You know why because you will ask in accordance with my will John 14 13 Look over one page.

It says and whatever you ask in my name That will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son Christ says that when you ask anything in my name that is in accordance with my will and my word and the only way you Know what God's Word is or God's will is is because you know his Word and the only way you know God's Word is because you have been alone with the Almighty so much that you have memorized the Word of God and know the Word Of God, you know exactly what to ask God So if you know Matthew 6 verses 9 to 13 the disciples prayer, which we talked about just in our last time together Then you know exactly what you need to ask God for and God says if you ask anything in my name You get it The reason we don't get what we asked for is because we don't ask in the name of Christ We don't ask in accordance with who he is his character his name his person his will prayer Becomes potent why because prayer is proper.

Most of our prayer life is improper We're asking God to be with us when God says. Oh, I'm with you all the way even to the end of the world God says I'm gonna I'm already with you.

Just do what I ask you to do We're asking things from God that he has not Willed us to have if we know what to ask God because we know his Word God says you always get those things always so prayer becomes proper We know how to pray because God has taught us how to pray If prayer is proper, it becomes very purposeful.

It's along God's lines and Then it becomes very potent why because the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much Why is the righteous man's prayer effective and fervent? Simply because he's righteous. Why is he righteous because he knows the words of God Faith is fortified sin is squelched prayer becomes proper fourthly your attitude is altered Your attitude is altered and a lot of us need to have our attitudes altered a lot of us got bad attitudes complaining spirits bitter spirits Unforgiving spirits, we love to gripe and to bellyache and to complain about all kinds of things We need to have a little bit of gratitude inside our attitude We need an attitude adjustment for that to happen It comes to the memorization of God's Word the very familiar passage of scripture over in Philippians chapter 4 verse number 8 reads as follows Finally brethren, whatever is true Honorable right pure lovely and of good repute or attractive if there is any excellence And if anything worthy of praise let your mind dwell on these things Let your mind be fixed on these things You see the problem with us is that our mind is fixed on everything.

But these six key characteristics. I mean look If everything you read and everything you saw on television was put through this grid the true grid the the pure grid The good repute grid that which is lovely grid If everything was put through that We would watch less and talk less and think less about those other things and focus more on God's Word Paul says if we dwell on these things If we do all these things go down to the next verse the peace of Christ The peace of Christ he says shall be with you You reason we have bad attitudes is because we don't have the peace of Christ ruling in our hearts When the peace of Christ is the governing factor of all of our decision-making process It comes as a byproduct of letting the Word of Christ dwell on us richly Because we have learned to think of the things that are true and pure and holy and lovely and of good repute the righteous kind of things our attitude becomes altered Fifthly our thoughts are transformed Our thoughts are transformed Romans 12 verse number 2 and be not conformed to this world, but be transformed how by the renewing of your mind Our thought life needs to be transformed When thoughts are transformed that happens because our mind has been renewed.

How is a man's mind renewed? It's renewed through memorization It's renewed by thinking on the things of God that he wants us to think upon That we might act as he wants us to act We are so busy being conformed to the world That we are not being transformed by the renewing of our minds and Paul says Our whole thought process needs to be transformed. Is that not true? we think along the lines of society Our thought life is based on what we read in the LA Times What we read in Time magazine or Newsweek Sports Illustrated car and driver Never read that one before but I'm sure there's something in there That's what shapes our thought life and God says be transformed Don't be put into the world's mold Put in my mold to do that your mind needs to be renewed you're not mine needs to be cleansed altered Transformed for that to happen.

You need to memorize the Word of God And lastly And not least your evangelism is empowered Your evangelism is empowered Why? Because as you know the Word of God and you speak to people about God you speak to them the words of God and The empowerment in the evangelistic process comes through the giving forth of God's Holy Word First Peter 3 verse 15 talks about sanctifying Christ as Lord in your hearts Setting him apart as the Holy One in your life So that you might be able to answer every man who asks you of the hope that lies within You can answer them intelligently You can answer them biblically because you know the Word of God read the book of Acts and those great Apostles were so gifted in the Word of God They knew how to answer every man because they knew God's Word They knew how to answer those who would come after them and and degrade them and and ridicule them They knew what God said in his word.

So their faith was fortified They could squelch the sin that was in their life Their attitude would be so altered that when they would leave they would rejoice having been thought of worthy to be beaten for Christ They were the kind of people whose thoughts were Transformed because their minds had been renewed so much so that their evangelism was empowered Because they knew the Word of God and could give forth the Word of God You know how to answer your children, you know how to answer your spouse You know how to answer those who ask you any question because it immediately goes back to the Word of God and it's put through God's grid so important Let me challenge you to memorize the Word of God One verse a week.

That's it. Just one verse Memorize one verse a week 52 a year. That's it. Put them on a three by five card review them throughout the day Write them on the mirror of your bathroom in soap And let them stick there. Let's stick there all week You just keep going over it again and again and again and watch what happens in your life The simplicity of memorization it's not that difficult Satan wants you to think it's hard say what you think. Yeah, you're too old. You can't remember anything But you can it's the living abiding Word of God that will transform everything about your life and that Simplicity of memorization leads us to the priority of meditation.

Listen, if you don't memorize You won't meditate If you don't meditate there won't be any process of Mortification Getting away of those things that keep us from being what God wants us to be if there's no mortification There'll be no manifestation So learn to memorize the Word of God Learn to hide it in your heart Learn to treasure it in your life Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly abundantly be filled up with God's Word and then you lead to the priority of meditation That's for next time let's pray Father we thank you for the Word of God.

You have put it on the written page that we might grasp it forgive us Lord for Opening our Bibles today and then closing them this afternoon and never opening them again till next Sunday Forgive us Lord for Not spending time memorizing at least one simple verse a week And then sitting down and warming ourselves by the fire of meditation To speak in the chatter to digest and to chew upon the Word of God on how it relates to my life here today And then Lord the duty of application So That when I get up from my time alone with you, I have my marching orders I know exactly what it is.

You'd have me do My prayer Lord is that all of us would say yes, that's what I want to do for my life And yet we know Lord that if there'd be one among us today who's never given their life to you Then what we have spoken of just means nothing to them they don't grasp it Yet they can by simply giving their lives to Jesus Christ Asking to rule and reign within them That they might be subject to your will We thank you for today Thank you for who you are and what you've done May we live in light of your return in Jesus name.

Amen