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So this evening I'm gonna preach just a very simple message nothing new here But also just something that it's always good to be reminded of kind of in that same thing theme was this morning where we're being Careful to maintain good works. Obviously, there's always things in our lives that we have to be Constantly affirmed of as we read in Titus 3 this morning that we'd be careful to maintain certain things in our lives Or this morning we looked at the topic of soul winning and how that was something we need to maintain But tonight I just want to look at another good work that we need to make sure we're maintaining in our lives another good work that You know I as a preacher and commanded to affirm constantly as Paul told Titus in chapter number three And what I want to look at this evening is just the topic of daily devotions Basically just Bible reading and prayer Obviously, this isn't the flashiest most entertaining sermon But you know your daily devotions your Bible reading your prayer life are the bread and butter of the Christian life These are the foundational building blocks of the Christian life Jesus said without me he can do nothing except we abide in him and abide in the vine We can bear no fruit and we need to make sure that we are abiding Daily in our Bible reading and in prayer if we want to live a productive fruitful life for Christ If we're not we're not going to do the greater works that have been given unto us if we can't even do the most simple basic things like Bible reading and prayer Those are the the building blocks the foundational things of the Christian life And we have to be careful to maintain these things in our lives so again Nothing new probably be a quick sermon, but if you would look at Matthew chapter number six verse nine It says after this manner therefore pray our father which 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, so he's saying there Hey when you pray pray and ask give us this day our daily bread and of course the immediate Interpretation the application there is we ought to pray for our daily needs And we ought to pray for our daily sustenance and God answers that prayer often without us even maybe even praying that you know God if you think about it We don't even pray that sometimes and God still answers that prayer But we ought to be praying this and saying God give us this day our daily bread Okay, now I want to take a spiritual interpretation of this and apply this to you know our Bible reading our devotions, right? Obviously if he's saying our daily bread he's talking about literal physical bread But we could also look at this from a spiritual aspect and say hey that daily bread that we need to get is The bread of the Word of God we need to make sure that we are getting The bread of God in our lives every day that we're waking up that we're getting into the Word of God and getting that Spiritual meat that we all need in order to live the Christian life that we need to live Just like we can't go out and do the physical work that we are I have to perform from day to day without Some kind of sustenance we always have to have some kind of you know caloric intake so that we can go out and function Physically, you know the same is true spiritually You need to have that spiritual caloric intake every day in order to go out and perform spiritually, okay Jesus said it is written man shall not live by bread alone But what by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, right? So we live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God Obviously people can function physically in this world. There's a whole world. There's a whole system There's a whole economy that's operating apart from the Word of God People are going to work that don't believe in God that don't read the Bible and they're functioning physically, aren't they? They're producing they're being productive what he's referring to there in Matthew 4. I believe is the fact that we're going to live Spiritually by the Word of God, you know, we need God's words in our lives if we're going to Walk in newness of life. Okay, and So keep something there in Matthew, but go over to Exodus Exodus chapter number 16 Exodus chapter number 16 And it's interesting in Matthew 6. He says this day could give us our daily bread, right? So again, it's the idea that he's saying you should be asking for this daily This is something that you should be doing daily. Give us this day our daily bread It's not let me wake up Monday and just pray for Monday's bread and Tuesdays and Wednesdays and Thursday Fridays and Saturdays and Sundays It's hey, let me pray every day for the bread that I need for that day and that's the approach We have to take when it comes to Bible reading Bible reading is something that has to be done on a daily basis You don't want to try and read all your Bible one day for the whole week You know because the Holy Spirit is going to speak to you from day to day, you know We need to be getting that daily sustenance fresh bread every day from the mouth of God himself Bible reading is something that should be done daily Think about first Peter chapter number two how it says as newborn babes Desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby Right saying as a newborn, babe, he would desire what that sincere milk of the Word of God That's what's gonna cause you to grow their buys the Word of God But you know that analogy that Paul's using there or Peter rather is the analogy of giving a babe milk, right? No, I don't know about you, but all five of my children. We didn't feed them milk one time You know, maybe it was different in your house, you know But it would seem like you know, my wife could probably testify to this fact if you doubt me But she was feeding these children multiple times throughout the day and you know that hasn't stopped either In fact the larger they've gotten the more they're eating, you know, the bigger ones are eating, you know They're eating me under the table at sometimes at this point, which if you can believe that right they're saying it used to be Hey, are you gonna finish that and I'd clean it up now. They're asking me dad Are you gonna eat all that you know because we can they got the telescoping spoon going out and they're trying to get in there You know, it's a good way to lose a finger trying to reach over on dad's plate But you know, the point is this is that you know, my children have to be fed daily You know babes have to be fed daily You know, of course that just we would think about that in a physical terms. We say well, of course, I mean don't be Ridiculous, you don't just feed a baby one time and then it grows, you know You have to feed that baby multiple times. You have to feed that baby every day. You have to eat every day Well, why would that be any different spiritually? You know, why is it then that we're being told to ask for our daily bread? Why is it that we are to eat? The Word of God that proceedeth out of the mouth of God every day Why is it that we are as babes desire the sincere miracle of the Word because that's something got to be an ongoing process in your Christian life Look at Exodus chapter number 16 verse 14 This is of course talking about when the manna the the miracle of the manna came down and it says in verse 14 and when the Dew that lay was excuse me And of do that was lay lay was gone up behold upon the face of the wilderness There lay a small round thing as small as the horror frost on the ground and when the children of Israel assault They said one to another it is manna for they wish not what it was and Moses said unto them This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded gathering of it every man according to his eating and Omer for every man According to the number of persons tanky every man for them which are in his tents So he's saying hey go out there and just take enough one Omer for every man. It's the same measure You're gonna eat so much every day, right and the children of Israel did so and gathered some more some less And when they did meet out an Omer with an Omer they that had gathered much had nothing over So those guys that went out and said well, I know he said an Omer but I'm gonna take an Omer and a half They still ended up with an Omer And he had gather Had got much had nothing over and he had a gather had little had no lax. Well, I don't need a full Omer I just need the half of well, he ended up with an Omer too. This is a miracle in and of itself They gathered every man to his eating So they gathered exactly what they needed if they tried to be greeny or they didn't get enough They ended up with the Omer right and Moses said leave no man of it till the morning Okay, so he's saying don't let this sit overnight. Don't put this in the fridge Don't leave this on the counter and say well tomorrow I'm not gonna have to go out and gather because the Omer worth of manna because I still have some left over You know, I gathered twice today You know two Omers so now I don't have to go out tomorrow No, you still end up with an Omer you still have to go out the next day to get that fresh Omer. Okay? Notwithstanding they harken not unto Moses So some things never change right but some of them left it until the morning and it bread worms and stank So the guys are thinking well, you know, I'll just gather extra or I won't finish it I'll just leave some until the next day, you know, it bread worms and stank. You know, that's that's pretty quick And I don't know any foods that that do that that quickly, you know overnight, you know things will go bad overnight They might smell bad, but I mean where it's rotting and breeding worms, you know, the maggots are there You know, it's that's pretty gross right this happens overnight. Okay, and Moses was wroth with them. He's saying you didn't do what I told you to do verse 21 and they gathered it every morning Every man according to his eating and when the Sun waxed hot it melted So there's a you know, a couple great illustrations in here, you know, that manna is like the Word of God Jesus You know who is the Word of God said he was the bread which has come down from heaven, right? He and Jesus is you know, the Word of God. So in a way the manna here is a picture of the Word of God It's a picture of Christ. It's a picture of the Bible, right? So, you know, we have to approach it the Bible our Bible reading the same way We would approach this manna back then How would we approach it meaning you have to go get it every day, you know, and typically, you know It's probably best in the morning You know that it says that it whack when it was some waxed hot it melted You know, that's a great principle when it comes to you know, prioritizing your schedule, you know If you're gonna put Bible reading make it the most important thing that you get done every day, which you probably should In fact, you should let me just say it, you know That's probably something you should get knocked out first thing in the day because you know what as soon as the day gets going You know the time just kind of melts away, doesn't it? Say hey, you know that 15-20 minutes of Bible reading I was gonna fit in first thing this morning You know now it's 8 a.m. Now, it's 9 a.m. Or excuse me 9 p.m. It's too late. I'm already tired I'm already exhausted. I've already got to go to bed You know that the time can just fly by like that and look we could just carve out You know that first thing when we wake up the first thing when we get more going in the morning Okay, maybe make the brush your teeth and make a cup of coffee. Go ahead do that little five-minute routine You got to do whatever, you know get that taken care of but then like the first major activity really ought to be our Bible Reading, you know and and I don't want people that I'm kind of getting my head ahead of myself a little bit here But you know, you don't have it doesn't have to be like an hour of Bible reading, you know Some people get this idea They they just want to read for I look if you got an hour by all means read for an hour But I'm saying hey, how long do you think it went out to gather an omer? 15 20 minutes, maybe they had to go out grab an omer bring it back probably wasn't that long, you know It's not a lot of food. It was just enough for one man It was just a small measurement that they had to go up. But how did they end up, you know? Staying sustained over those 40 years in the wilderness How do they manage to be? Nourished day in and day out by what by being consistent and that little bit by just going out day in and day out getting the Fresh omer of mana every day. It's the same way in your Christian life You know, you will go much further in the Christian life If you just read a little bit of your Bible every day consistently because you know, this is something I'm kind of prone to You know, sometimes I'll fall behind on things or feel like I have to catch up So I'll just I'll get real zealous and say, you know, I'm gonna read You know a bunch of Bible reading or I'm gonna do this activity I'm just gonna go overboard, but you know really you'd be better off You wouldn't you know, you end up burning out when you get that attitude if I'm just gonna do a whole bunch at once You end up usually not doing anything at all You'd be go a lot further if you would just hey, how about an omer? How about just an omer? You don't have to go get two homers How about you know, but don't get any less than an omer just go out and get an omer every day every morning It's a great analogy of Bible reading, you know, yesterday's devotions are not they're gonna rot overnight Can't say well, I read my Bible yesterday. You know, I read my Bible and I'm good for the week. That's not how it works Because here's the thing, you know Got our needs change daily, don't they? You know, we need to be spoken to in a different way. Sometimes, you know, we might develop bad habits overnight We might develop a bad attitude overnight some things might to start to stink and rot from one day to the next in our lives It might be that day that God has something in his word that's going to correct the path, right? But we have to be in it daily Our needs change daily go to Psalms 119 Psalms 119. We're gonna look at Several passages in Psalms. So look keep a bookmark there, but I'll read to you in Psalms chapter 1 verse 2 It says but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law. He doth he meditate day and night We ought to be meditating the law of God day and night Meaning if you're not reading it, what are you gonna be meditating on? You're probably not gonna be meditating on it at all People are meditating a lot of other things today than the Word of God There's a lot of things that are distracting us a lot of things that are trying to pull us away But you know what if we would just make a point of getting in the Word of God Early on in the day that would stick with us There might be that one verse that we're made that one passage That one thought that comes to us and kind of sticks with us throughout the day Our indeed our needs change daily. That's why we can't rely on yesterday's Omer a Bible reading to get us through And look the Bible will speak to you You know, well God's Word the Bible says that God's Word is a two-edged sword That is is sharper than a two-edged sword Dividing asunder even though the joints and a marrow and as a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart That's God's Word. God's Word will this will will you know will cut through the the attitudes it will cut through our Thinking it'll cut through and will be a discerner of the thoughts and intents of our heart You know, we will be thinking about something. We'll be planning something We'll have some motivation. There'll be something that we're just fixated upon or whatever, you know, something's going on in our life You know that we're thinking one way and then you know But if we're reading our Bible there might be something that'll just wake us up and say oh that was wrong or you know Maybe it'll confirm what we're thinking, you know, or maybe it'll give us some insight or some wisdom, you know God's Word will do that. It's guaranteed I mean, that's what the Bible says about itself that it's a discerner of the thoughts and tense of the heart It will convict us it will confirm things for us. It will guide us and lead us if we're in a daily You know, but if we're not listening if we're not reading it, how can it do that? You know, it's not gonna it's not gonna open itself and jump in front of our face We have to be the ones that do that We are to give attendance to reading right that's what Timothy was told give it till I come give attendance to reading to Exhortation to doctrine right one of the things he told him was give attendance to reading, you know Think about attendance at school, right? I know some of the home schoolers might not know this But hopefully you're in attendance at home school, right? I don't know if mom's taking a roll call here, you know But that's the way it used to be When I went to school, sometimes they do the roll call, right? They call out your name You'd have to say present here, you know, let them know you're there, you know, that's the way it ought to be with our reading You know when it comes time for Bible reading when the Holy Spirit says, you know, so-and-so Calls out the roll call goes out for your for your Bible reading It should be here not you're not getting checked absence You know day in and day out week in and week out month in and month out, you know We should give attendance to reading we should make sure that when it's time to go out and gather the Omer we go out and get it okay Preferably early on in the day. I think that's a good policy Psalms 119 if you're there look at verse 9 It says wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word So it's the what's gonna cleanse his way what's gonna keep the sin out of his life What's gonna keep him on the straight and narrow? What's gonna keep him moving forward for Christ by taking heat or there to according to thy word, right? Think about when you're driving. Okay, when you're driving down the road you give heat to the signs, don't you? Hopefully, you know, maybe you're one of these maniacs that are out there, you know You see the stop sign the yield sign the lanes merging sign The speed limit sign you see these signs and you yield to these things you you you give attendance to those things You are you you are you cleanse your way so to speak, right? You take a tent you you give attendance to you take heed to the lines on the road, right? So, you know where you are in traffic, okay? How do you do all that by looking at it by reading it by? Acknowledging it by seeing it you read that sign and that's what helps you get where you're going You know relatively safely. Well, think about it in spiritually speaking. How are you gonna know where to go spiritually? How are you gonna know what direction you out ahead in? How do you know what decisions you're supposed to make when you're supposed to turn when you're supposed to yield when you're supposed to go? By getting in you know, the the Word of God and letting you know The spiritual roadmap that is in the in the Bible guide you Looking for the the signs along the way that God is going to show you from his word. Okay? That's How we're going to cleanse our way by taking heat according to thy word And it's interesting in verse 10. He says with my whole heart have I sought thee. Oh, let me not wander from thy commandments You know, what's gonna keep him from wandering is the fact that he's seeking him with his whole heart He's not doing it half-heartedly. He wants to seek God with his whole heart and notice what he's saying It's like he's praying and asking let me not wander from thy commandments Because the thing is we are prone to wander we are prone to sin, you know Our our steps are inclined out of the way. It's just it's just part of human nature It's just part of the the old man that we still have to deal with day in and day out The flesh and the old man doesn't you know want to do the things of God? It's at enmity with God, you know, the the flesh and the spirit are enmity one with another. Okay? That's why I have to walk in the spirit with the whole heart and we have to be in the Word of God Let me not that wander from thy commandments, right? He doesn't want to wander So what does he do thy word have I hidden mine heart that I might not sin against thee? You know, it wasn't you know, the the the cute little saying that he read on some poster somewhere It wasn't some little meme or whatever. He saw on social media. That's gonna keep his heart clean That's gonna keep him from sinning It's God's Word that's gonna do that by getting in the Word of God and reading it being in it daily He's gonna find things in there. They're gonna keep him from wandering from thy commandments You know and if you kind of blow off the Bible reading if it's not that important to you Then I kind of wonder how concerned are you from wandering from God's commandments? You know, it's wandering away from the commandments of God something you are really concerned about You know, maybe I mean look at people who are wandering out of the way Look think about people who aren't living for God you think they're reading their Bible You think they give a rip what the Bible says, of course not So that's a check for us too. If we find ourselves just kind of whatever with the Bible, you know We have to search our own hearts and ask ourselves. Are we really that concerned with not wandering out of the way? Are we really trying to seek God with the whole heart if we're not even getting in our Bibles? Okay It's a very basic But much needed, you know discipline Bible reading Because here's the thing, you know wandering when you think about it, how does it start with just one misstep? Right people don't go you think about these people that go out and hiking and things like that And then they're just they disappear then some hunter finds their body like, you know next year when the snow melts or something How did they do that? They wandered off the path, you know They got a few steps off the path and they got turned around and then that's it That's all it takes just a few missteps and they've wandered completely out of the way Look it doesn't take that long for us to wander out of the way spiritually We stopped paying attention to the road signs. We stopped paying attention to the the spiritual roadmap and God's Word We stopped we stopped finding out, you know, where we were the little arrow It says you are here in God's Word when we're reading and God's going this is where you are the spiritual life This is where you are in the Christian life. This is what you need to work on We stopped paying attention to that, you know, then it's just a few steps wandering off The next thing you know, we're just wandering around the wilderness and be a victim Wandering begins with one misstep. This is why it's important to be in your Bible daily daily reading seeking with the whole heart So, I know I'm you know, hopefully I'm making the case to get you to read your Bibles if you're not okay But you might be asking well how much Bible reading because this is a question that comes up people kind of ask how much Bible Reading should you be doing right? Obviously this answer is different for different people Okay, different people have different roles different people have different responsibilities different people are different seasons in their life and Maybe they're not as capable of reading as somebody else, right? You should be you should read as much as you can obviously But I would say that at a minimum every person, you know, who's of a certain age who can who can do it? You know young children, maybe just start them out on the New Testament Or the book of Proverbs. I think that's what we do with our kids, you know, they start out with Proverbs They get a little older then they work into the New Testament You know then they can start reading the Old Testament as they get maybe into their teen years and because it's a lot for a kid I mean, it's a long book folks. I mean adults struggle with it. Okay, so Don't put too much on the kids right away But you know at some point, you know, you should probably be trying to work towards the goal of reading the entire Bible once a year You know and people kind of are taken aback by that, you know, like whoa the whole Bible once a year I don't know how I'm not gonna get it done. Oh you get it done about 20 minutes a day 15 20 minutes a day. So I'm not a good reader. It might take me longer Yeah, but here's the thing as you read the Bible You'll get better at reading it, you know become more efficient and then you'll keep you'll be able to read more that will improve It's like any other skill. It has to be developed, right? So 15 20 minutes a day you'd read the whole thing in a year, right and You know, obviously some people should be reading more, you know ministers such as myself Once a year is probably not gonna cut it You know, it's pretty more like four times a year five times a year, you know That would be the appropriate amount right because if you're preaching and teaching the Word of God Obviously you have that responsibility of knowing it better Okay, so that's you know, that's that's different. Not everybody has to read it that much Not everybody has to have you know, five times a year under their belt, you know, think about a busy mother, right? It's probably gonna be a lot harder for her to read four times a year then You know some single guy who's got a lot of more time on his hands or single young lady Who's got a lot more time on there and here here's the thing take advantage of that time while you have it Because I'm telling you life gets busy the older you get and the more responsibilities you have, you know that time You're gonna regret not using that time wisely if you're not You know, I was talking my wife about this on the way home and she was reminding me You know, she there was a season where she was reading her Bible four times a year several years in a row You know and but she's since having her fifth fourth or fifth child has had to scale that back to one time a year You know, but she took advantage of all those years prior Where she wasn't as busy as she was where she you know Wasn't being pulled in so many different directions where she could spend more time and use that time, you know And as a result, she knows her Bible very well But you know that that was something that she was able to do for a season So I can't just say here's a one-size-fits-all, you know Bible reading plan for everybody, you know That's why we have the benign Bible checklist back there, you know next to the water cooler It's just it's just the the checkboxes per chapter, you know, you can determine how much you want to read it But I think saying hey 15 20 minutes isn't a whole lot to ask Here's the thing, you know reading it is gonna be a light onto your path it's gonna be a guide for your feet It's going to be a light and a lamp onto your path and onto your feet It's gonna guide you through life. God will speak to you in that time It'll keep you from wandering from his commandments when we're in them I should have had to keep it something Matthew 6. Hopefully you did go back there to Matthew chapter number 6 We're gonna look at verse 9 again So he says after this manner Pray therefore pray our father which 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 You know, it's just inferred It's just assumed that we're gonna be asking for this daily bread that it's gonna be something we're gonna be doing daily but notice also The other aspect of our devotions this good work that we're being careful to maintain not just our Bible reading but our prayer life a time Of prayer, you know, there should be prayer in your life as well Again, it doesn't have to be this long drawn-out thing, but there should be a time every day where we're praying Because obviously he said they're asking, you know, he's telling them how to pray here right after this manner therefore pray Okay And he's saying give us this day our daily bread You see how it's kind of just kind of assumed you're gonna be praying daily You know prayer should be something that takes place daily in our lives And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors so on and so forth So prayer here is also meant to be daily. In fact, just back up to verse 5 He says and when thou prayest thou shall not be as the hypocrites for art for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and In the corners of the streets that they may be seen of men verily saying to you they have their reward But thou when thou prayest enter into thy closet when thou I shut thy door pray to thy father Which is in secret and thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly for seven But when he pray use not vain repetitions as the heathen do For they think they should be here for their much speaking Do you not therefore like unto them for your father know with what things you have need of before you ask him? Okay So notice there it's three times when you pray when thou prayest when thou prayest right when you pray He's saying so Jesus just said oh, well, you're gonna pray You know, it's assumed we're gonna pray You know, we need to make sure that we're also including prayer in our devotions There ought to be a time of prayer where we're getting, you know Just as he's telling us to do here entering into the closet Shutting the door in secret, you know praying over the meal is great. But you know, the prayer for dinner is not your devotions That's not your prayer time you know that needs do you need to have your own separate individual time of prayer where you're praying to God and Communicating with your heavenly father which to me seems to be like a great privilege, you know that we have as God's people And Again, it's something that should be done every morning. It reminds me the verse, you know It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed because compassion's fail night. They are new every morning Not about you, but whether we realize it or not. We need God's compassion's every morning Because the fact is, you know There's probably not a day that goes by that we don't sin in some way shape or form whether in the mind or in the heart Or an attitude maybe if it's not even something we do Maybe it's just something we think or feel right there's constantly things that we need to be confessing constantly things We have to be getting right with God. We need God's mercies new every morning. Praise God They are new every morning that they're there for us that we can go to God and he can cleanse us and set us back on our feet and And and get us going in the right path again every morning that's available to us So every morning take advantage of it because the fact is you need it every morning if you're anything like me You know, I'm assume everybody else in here is a sinner. So everybody else nobody else in here has really reached some Perfection, you know sinless perfection because it's impossible Go to Psalms chapter number five Psalms chapter number five Paul said in 1st Timothy 2 I will therefore that men pray everywhere lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting You know We kind of got after the ladies last Sunday morning where he goes on and says and like manner also that women adorn themselves With in modest apparel with shame face a distance sobriety, right? Well, let's back it up and kind of let's just get everybody now, right? Because he's saying I will therefore that men pray everywhere You know God wants us to be praying everyone's all been to be praying lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting Why should you pray daily Well, one reason is the fact that prayer is preventative You know, if you've got some sin in your life You've got something you're trying to get right or if there's some you know, godly habit You're trying to work in your life, or there's something you're trying to fix between you and the Lord You should pray about that every day. It's preventative. It'll help you Look if you let's just use a sin, for example, right if you had some sin that you're trying to get out of your life Are you more likely to or less likely to do that sin if you prayed about it first thing in the morning ask God to help You chances are you're a lot less likely to do it Because you've thought about it you've prayed about it You've kind of determined, you know, I'm not gonna give in to this or I'm gonna do this thing that I'm supposed to do You know, I'm not gonna give in to this sin whether it's a sin of commission or omission. I've prayed about it I've gotten alone with the Lord. I've asked God I've acknowledged It's something I have a proclivity towards and I've asked God to help me in this area I've asked for the Holy Spirit, you know, it's kind of hard to go back on that after you've prayed that You're gonna feel like no I prayed for that God, you know gave me that Victory and and I'm gonna go out there and and and not fall back into this sin But what if it's just the farthest thing from your mind? You know, you don't think about it. You're not trying to get it right. You're not praying about it You know, you're probably just gonna fall right back into it day in and day out You're probably just gonna give in to every temptation. You're just gonna give in to whatever that sin is and Commit it again and again, but if we're praying about it if we're acknowledging it before God, you know We're gonna have a much better time of not allowing it into our lives. Prayer is preventative. That's why you need to pray daily He said in verse 1 in Psalms chapter 5 give ear to my words Oh Lord consider my meditation Harken unto the voice of my cry my king and my God this sounds like a guy who wants to be heard You know, he wants God to hear him You know, hopefully we can all say that about ourselves. You know, we want God to hear our prayer Hopefully, you know and the great thing is is that God will hear us You know God wants to hear our prayer verse 3 my prayer my excuse me a vibe voice shout out here in the morning Oh Lord, so there is this idea of doing this first thing Oh Lord in the morning Will I direct my prayer into thee and we'll look up and saying, you know, I'm going to pray into you in the morning What's his motive here? Why does he want to be heard so badly? Why is he telling God you're gonna hear me in the morning in the morning. You will hear me verse 4 Thou are not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness. You know, I'm gonna get up. I'm gonna pray you're gonna hear my voice You're gonna know the meditation of my heart harken unto my voice God hear me in the morning Why because thou are not a God that has pleasure in wickedness I'm gonna pray because I want to get the sin out of my life. I don't want to live a wicked sinful life So I'm gonna pray to God in the morning and let him know that's my intent That's what I'm aiming for and ask him for the help that I need to do That was his motive here I pray in the morning because God is not a God that has pleasure in wickedness neither shall evil dwell with thee There is a motive to pray right there to get the sin out of your life and have a walk with God You'll follow through on what you prayed about, you know You're more likely to follow through on the things that you pray about then just say well, you know I hope I get over that sin Well, I hope I start doing that thing I'm supposed to be I hope so I hope it happens, you know Maybe maybe I'll just manage to avoid it somehow today. Maybe I'll just stumble into it and it'll just happen You know if you got down on your face you got down on your knees you got down and cried out to God And asked him to help you You're probably gonna be a lot more likely to follow through with that and God's gonna bless that and give us Holy Spirit say I Will help you with that. I will you know make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it You know, there's no temptation is taking but such as is common to man But God is faithful who will make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it You know, that's the promise that we have in scriptures The problem is is that the way of escape is often down on our knees praying God to help us You know, it's not just in the morning sometimes that you need to prayer, you know If there's some temptation if there's some sin that's tempting you that you have a struggle with you know When you're feeling that temptation to give in that's when you're gonna get down on your knees and ask God to deliver you and to help you And get through it and not get up off your knees until you know You're gonna be able to continue on living for God and not go into some wicked sin because God is not a God that has pleasure and wickedness You'll follow through and what you pray about there's a way to escape Now, let me just give some more practical application here as I wrap this up. So we're talking about again devotions Talking about Bible reading we're talking about prayer. Okay, and again some practical application. How much should you read? You know, it depends on the person really take advantage of the time you have if you're a busy person Carve out, you know a minimum amount of time to try and get through your Bible at least once a year That's a that's a bare minimum. That's not I don't think asking too much of anybody Prayer too, right? Here's the thing. I think prayer, you know, this is just a personal preference you do whatever you want Okay, I'm not you know saying if you do this back the other way that you're doing it wrong I mean my personal preference is to pray after I have read I like to read the Bible and then pray And again, I just I'm just throwing this out there because I'm talking about prayer in Bible reading So I'm just kind of letting you know, this is my approach Because a lot of times people when they go to pray that one of the struggles they'll have is I don't really know what to pray about You know, they'll kind of go. Yeah, I know I Should you know, I'm not maybe you don't have some standard you're trying to get over whatever They're just kind of you don't know what to pray about sometimes Well, that's why it's a good thing to read your Bible first, you know, if you read your Bible first Maybe there'll be something to come across that You'll go hey, I'm gonna pray about that or God will remind you. Hey, here's the things you ought to pray for You know pray for one another. Oh, I maybe I should pray for a church member, you know, pray that though, you know The Word of God goes forward to pray that you know, the the gospel, you know is it's preached boldly You know that the soul winners and the preachers can open their mouths boldly to make known the mystery of gospel You know Paul often asked the you know, the the multiple churches to pray for him and those that were laboring, right? He said pray for me, you know pray for your pastor pray for you know Your parents pray for your spiritual leadership pray for other church members, okay? Read the Bible first you might find out that there you kind of figure out. Oh, here's some things I can pray about Here's another reason why I like to read and then pray because I feel like it's kind of giving You know the order of importance to God It's more like I'm saying, you know God before I just start making a bunch of requests Before I just start talking to you and filling your ear. I'm gonna listen to what you have to say You know, it's kind of it's kind of like, you know We if I had something really important to say to one of my children like if there's something I really wanted to get across to them You know, but they were just constantly chattering not that this ever happens. Not that my children, you know go on and on right? You know, but sometimes my kids and I and then it's you know, it's adorable, you know A lot of times when little kids just start talking and they're just they're not really saying much of anything They're just kind of I mean even Linda now. She doesn't even make she can't even form whole words, but she'll just We're like, uh-huh. Yeah, uh-huh, you know But if there was something important and pressing I needed to get across to her It would get kind of annoying that to sit there and be like are you done yet? Are you done? When are you gonna be quiet so I can tell you this, right? I don't have to talk over you Right, I Mean, but do you think maybe God has some important things he wants to say to us? You think there might be some things some pressing things that God is trying to get across to us in his word You know I would if there if if I if it came down I just got in a crunch or something like that once add to be One or the other prayer or Bible reading that day. I'd go with the Bible reading, you know, and I would just pray in the car But I keep my eyes open. All right You can do that or I pray to stop late and wait for someone to honk, you know And then I'd go again right because I want to hear what God has to say, you know I'll get back with God about the things that I need He already knows the things that I have need up before I even ask him right. We just read that You know, I would but I don't always know what it is that it's expected me I have to be often reminded, you know what God has to say to me That's why I like to put the Bible reading before the prayers. This is practical Sermon about having devotions, okay You know and this is kind of a principle that we we see in Scripture the Bible says in James chapter 1 Wherefore my beloved brethren let every man be swift here slow to speak slow to wrath, you know We should be more slow to speak and quick to hear or swift to hear and slow to speak You know, we should be more ready to hear the Bible says in Ecclesiastes than to give the sacrifice of fools Right keep thy foot when thou goest the house of God and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools Be not rash with thy mouth and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God we should be very careful about the things that we express towards God and not be rash with our mouths and Make sure that we're asking things, you know that are gonna be pleasing to him asking things are right So I don't I don't know how to pray like that Well, then read find out what God's like find out what he wants find out what he's expecting and read You know, this is a principle you even see in nature, you know in the human body itself you have two ears and one mouth It's almost like God kind of said I'd rather you listen more than you speak, you know, but how is God gonna speak to us? He's not gonna call you on the phone. You're gonna get a text from the Lord He's gonna speak to you right here in this book Are we listening? Go to are you probably had you move away from Psalms. So just go over to you know, what? No, go to Psalms 55. We need to look at this So pray why pray because it's preventative Because it'll help you not it'll help you with that sin you're struggling with It'll help you live a more righteous and godly life If you taking the time to pray about it, you'll be more likely to follow through on the things that you've prayed about You'll have more strength to resist some temptation if you've prayed about it. I'm not saying it's foolproof But I'm saying you know If you've been meditating and thinking about these things if you've brought this before the throne of God if you've gone To the throne of grace to find mercy and help in time of need, you know, you'll probably be more likely to follow through on that You'll say wait a minute. I prayed about this. God is gonna back me up. It's preventative. That's why you should pray Pray after you read give you something to pray about and the last thing I want to look at this too Is that prayer should be persistent? There has to be something that we're persistent about You know, it's funny people don't have time for prayer when things are going fine People don't want to hear a sermon about a prayer when when life's just honky-dory They're just like when are we gonna get this sermon about prayer over with? My life's great What do I need to pray anything about anything about but as soon as you get in a bind as soon as you get in A pickle as soon as you get in some distress as soon as some tribulation or trial comes in your life Isn't it funny how quickly we find ourselves praying all of a sudden? We're just like, oh I better pray about this You know, oh man, some bad news came in. Oh some tribulation. Oh, I'm in some buying now all of a sudden prayer Sounds pretty good. All of a sudden. What was that sermon about? And when he preached my prayer, we're trying we're looking it up Look, well, let me let me pay attention now You know, let me let me find out now now that I actually need God to come through for me now I'll go ahead and pray, you know, it ought not be that way. You know, we ought to be persistent in prayer You will be persistent in prayer when that time of distress comes You know when you'll find yourself, you know Needing God to come through for you when that time of distress comes all of a sudden prayer becomes very persistent Look at Psalm 55 verse 16 As for me, I will call upon the Lord upon God and the Lord shall save me So if you read the rest of the chapter, he's talking about all the persecutors his enemies and things like that Obviously he's going through it. He's saying look I'm gonna pray unto God. Yeah, I'm not saying that you know, David here was you know Not persistent in his prayer life, but I'm just pointing this out that you know, we're a lot more prone to pray When there's persecution will be a lot more persistent in our prayer when we have a problem, okay? every it goes on it says evening and morning and at noon will I pray and Cry aloud and he shall hear my voice Look life being at what what it is. There will be a common day when you that will be you guaranteed it guarantee it you there will come a time when some tragedy befalls you when you just need God and you know what no one's gonna Have to preach to you about praying No one's gonna have to come and admonish you to pray and have a prayer life You're gonna be you you'll get down on your knees and you won't be able to get up Until you cry out and ask God and know that you've gotten through to him. You'll be praying evening morning noon night It'll just come perfectly natural. But why is it that way? Why do we have to wait until something goes wrong before we decide? Well, I guess I'll have a prayer life now It shouldn't be that way prayer should be persistent in good times and in bad We should persist in prayer over the course of our lives. We should be praying go over to first Thessalonians chapter number five Look Bible reading and prayer is just should be just something that's just a cornerstone of our lives It should be something that is just who we are over the entire course of our lives If someone were to describe us say what is that person like? Well, they they read their Bible and they have a walk with God They pray You know, they walk with the Lord. They're always reading their Bible Like I know they read their Bible every day and they pray their church going, you know, their soul wedding These are just the things that just make up who we are as God's people You know if we're children of God, you know, why wouldn't we be doing the things that God commands of us? It just makes sense that that that would you just come one follows the other. I'm a Christian Oh, that means you pray and you read your Bible and you go to church I mean, that's just people just assume that about us. It ought to be that way The problem is is that prayer is a very private thing, right? It's if things like, you know going to church that's very outward It's very easy to just show up and like oh, well, I'm going to church, you know got that part down Yeah, but what about the prayer life? How are we working? How's it going on that? It's be something that you know makes up who we are We should be persistent in this not just in times of distress, but over the course of our lives We should be people of prayer. Look at first Thessalonians chapter number five verse 16 rejoice evermore. Oh, we love that one That's yeah, who would want to do that? I mean, I don't about you. I like rejoicing I like having something to be joyful over It's verse 17 pray without ceasing Rejoice evermore. Yeah. Amen pray without ceasing Oh prayer and No Pray without ceasing don't stop, you know, we need to be always preaching praying. I'm not saying I don't think he's saying here Don't stop praying throughout the you know, ever Like we just 24-7 we're praying, right? They're not always to pray and not faint, right? I'm saying I think what he's saying is like don't stop having a prayer life be a person of prayer persist in prayer over the span of your life and Everything give thanks. I don't know what to pray about. Why don't you just pray and give God? Thanks for all the good things that you have I mean, that's that's something you could pray for and that's my brow every single day You could get down and maybe if you're a grateful person, you know If you're somebody who actually appreciates the things that you have the good things that you have the grace of God That's been bestowed upon you. I mean if you're saved there's something to thank God about every single day. Thank God I'm saved Thank God, I'm not going to hell. Thank God. I'm going to heaven when I die. Thank God. I have a good church Thank God, I have godly parents. Thank God. I have godly children. Thank God. I have a holy Bible. Thank God I have the Holy Spirit I mean There's just we could just sit there and thank God over and over again for the same things every single day and still not think them enough There's always something to pray about you could give thanks, you know, and that would probably help with verse 16 You say, you know, I just don't the rejoice ever more thing as nice as that sounds I just you know, I don't feel like I have a lot of joy. I don't find myself rejoicing Well, how much have you been praying and thanking God? For the things that he's given you You know, are we just feeling like oh I'd be happier if I had some things or some stuff or some different situation or my life was just different in some way you know, that's that's a that's an attitude of You know of unthankfulness You know if we're discontent and we're unthankful, you know, we're probably not going to be people who rejoice evermore You know if we're praying if we're recognizing The great things that God has given unto us if we're thanking God for his mercy and his grace if we're thanking God for all The blessings that have been bestowed upon He loaded us daily with benefits the Bible says at his right hand our pleasures forever more if we would just get a hold Of that get in the Word of God understand who he is and pray, you know We might get up off our knees and find ourselves rejoicing Actually be glad for the things that we have in the Christian life Give thanks for this is the will of God. Well, I don't feel like giving thanks. Well, you know what giving Thanks is the will of God That's what he wants out of you I don't think it's much for God to ask that hey You got to be a thankful person for the things that I've sent my son to die for you And you're not going to hell even though you deserve to go there. That's something to give thanks for it In fact, it's commanded give thanks. This is the will of God concerning you in Christ Jesus concerning you I'm gonna have you go to one more place a Nehemiah chapter 11 Nehemiah chapter number 11 Is this this is kind of? This I found this interesting right in Nehemiah, you know, they're coming back out of the Babylonian captivity The real building the temple the rebuilding the wall and they're kind of getting everybody organized and they're sending the you know Some of the the principal men staying in Judah others are going out into the other cities They're kind of re-establishing the kingdom right then they have the Levites And they're having the porters and they're breaking them up and everyone's kind of getting reassigned their roles And it's interesting if you look at verse 5 it says and also the Levites Shemaiah the son of hash Hashib the son of as Reichem the son of hash Abaya the son of Bunai And Sheba thaya and Joseph ad of the chief Levites had the oversight of the outward business of the house of God, right? So he's saying these are the guys that were overseeing the outward business of the house of God and Madonniah the son of Micah the son of Zabdai the son of Asaph was the principal to begin the Thanksgiving in prayer You know, that was his role was to begin the Thanksgiving in prayer You know that there was a guy that was assigned to this, you know This is the will of God concerning you be thankful. He literally had a guy back then in the Levites. This was his job He was the principal to begin think the Thanksgiving in prayer, what's your job to give prayers of Thanksgiving? My job is the outward business of the house of God I have that You know another guy has a job to be the principal and the Thanksgiving in prayer I mean, this is something that God is, you know, having a prayer life is something that is expected of God's people There was literally a guy who was assigned this role And it wasn't just a prayer any old prayer it was a prayer of Thanksgiving and look if we read our Bibles and If we're in the Word of God, we will have prayers of Thanksgiving, you know, Thanksgiving is a prayer We can all pray in our devotions and our Bible reading will help remind us of that So be a person of prayer be a person of Bible reading be careful to maintain this good work Let's go ahead and close the word of prayer dear Lord again Thank you for the opportunity and the privilege that we have to read your word to be spoken to by you and to Pray and to speak to you Lord to be able to come through the blood of Christ to your throne and Lord to have our our Our hearts made right on a daily basis and to be able to give thanks for the many good things that you give us Lord help us to be a grateful people so that we might be a People who can rejoice we ask these things in Christ's name. Amen. All right, we'll go ahead and sing one more song before we go