MORNING ENCOURAGEMENT | Start Your Day With God’s Blessings - 1 Hour Morning Inspiration to Motivate

Get up every day intending to do your very best for God knowing ahead of time that you're not going to hit the mark 100 perfect but believing that God is more than enough to cover your sins and take care of them God doesn't want you to live in the torment of self-doubt believe you can hear from God believe God loves you believe he's got a good plan for your life believe that there's no mistake that you can make that is too great for God to turn it around and make it a miracle in your life

how often do you get up to say father I want to thank you that you are my strength today and if you have a job that's very difficult do you ever say to him Lord I need I need your strength to there to get this done I don't even know how I'm how I'm going to be able to do what I'm supposed to do you're my strength and what you've done is you you have invited the Lord God into your life so to speak through his Holy Spirit to enable you and strengthen you encourage you

and don't it does not let you quit because with him you can accomplish anything God has set before you to accomplish the devil always wants to tell you what you're not but see whatever you're not Jesus will make up for it and make you more than enough if you put your faith in him and don't don't always go around saying I shouldn't have done that I mean how many times in my life did I get up early in the morning to spend time with God and I would pray and study the bible and I mean

every time I would get done the devil would make me feel like I prayed wrong I didn't pray in the right posture I didn't pray in the right position I didn't pray long enough God didn't hear me and I had to learn to stop believing those lies and stop doubting myself and you know what that may be one of the most important things that you'll hear for a long time stop doubting yourself you know what God believes in you but it's not going to do you any good if you don't believe in you too every

day of our life every day of your life is a gift from God it's not to be wasted and to say well I'm not going to do anything today you can speak you can walk you can handle things you can help many things you and I can do until the last day of our life you and I should be serving him in some fashion and it's not how long you live it's what you do with your life God has a purpose for your life you need to find out what it is and give him your

life and ask him to build strength into your life so that whatever years you have left you don't want to waste them in other words if you if there's a purpose for your living there are goals in that purpose things that he wants you to accomplish and oftentimes a person won't they won't set a goal in their life because they think well that's too high God would never do that to me so they get down here no listen is God weak no God's great he's powerful he's omniscient we should set Godly goals Godly goals for

our life that look look like it's something we can't do but God will help you reach it if you're willing to walk the pathway of obedience and faith and an optimistic spirit trusting him and everything you do are you frustrated about your limited success financially professionally academically are you frustrated with your lack of success have you tried your best and produced nothing listen make failure your teacher not your undertaker make failure your teacher and not your undertaker persistence overcomes resistance persistence is the willingness to give another try rather than to look for an alibi persistence

finds a way while others are looking for an excuse you're not finished until you think you are if you think you're beaten you are if you think you dare not you won't if you want to win but don't think you can win you won't win if you think you're outclassed you are if you think like a champion you can be a champion but you will not be a champion until you think like a champion let us remember as we live our lives that God in heaven has empowered us to do the impossible you have that

authority what are you doing with it every day we need to put on a fresh new attitude you know why yesterday's attitude will get old if you don't start a fresh and anew then you'll bring all the negative from yesterday into today you need to do something to get your day started right I mean if you're not a person who can manage you know a long time then take five minutes or three minutes or something I don't know lock yourself in the bathroom and pray for five minutes but just God help me help me I

want to put on love I want to go out of my house today and treat people right I've got problems God and they tend to make me cranky don't let me take them out on other people make a plan to go out and behave yourself every morning when you wake up you need to say father thank you for this day thank you that you woke me up thank you that you gave me air to breathe thank you that you surrounded me with favor I'm grateful to be alive I'm grateful for my family I'm grateful for

opportunities Lord I'm gonna live this day to the full that's putting on a fresh new attitude you wipe the slate clean you let go of yesterday's disappointments what didn't work out you get your mind going in the right direction I'm going to see the good today I'm going to be kind to somebody I'm going to stay in faith and enjoy this day make a plan to be a blessing plan ahead of time that when somebody offends you you're going to forgive them immediately plan ahead of time to be quick to forgive plan ahead of time

to give things away to compliment people to encourage people just get up in the morning and think okay Lord here's my goal today everywhere that I go I don't know how many people I'll see today maybe 15 20 25 but every single person I see I want to say a little something to them that will make them feel a little bit better than they were before I got there psalm 119 147 I rise early to cry out for help and to put my hope in your words he says I start every morning talking to you

I cry out in prayer and listening to you I read your word he says I start my day with hope are you starting your day with hope or with despair at some point we have to look in the mirror and say maybe I'm the one that needs to change maybe I've developed a habit of seeing what's wrong rather than what's right maybe I've trained myself to be negative disrespectful hard to get along with that's why it's so important every morning to put on this fresh new attitude I'm excited about this day I don't have to

go to work I get to go to work I'm grateful for this job I'm not focusing on what's wrong Lord I want to thank you for what's right in my life hey Jesus died for us so we can have a great life church I want you to have the very best life that you can have and there's a lot of lost people out there that don't know Christ so let's get out in the world and be a living message to them let's preach at all times and only use words when it's necessary let's let our

attitude and our actions do the preaching you know you can argue with words but you cannot argue with consistent action this day is a gift from God it is filled with possibilities new ideas new friendships mercy is kindness and kindness is mercy and boy we love the mercy of God don't we oh my gosh mercy is so amazing that we can do things wrong and God just forgives us that he never shuts us out of his life because we didn't do everything exactly the way he wanted it done his mercy is new every day every

morning and I figure that he makes a new batch every day because I used up all yesterdays some of you need to get up and this is why it's so important to get up in the morning and spend some time with God am I going to live this day negative sour seeing the wrong chip on my shoulder or am I going to live it in faith positive hopeful seeing the best being good to people this is a choice that we have to make every day whatever you happen to be facing today or may face I

actually want you to call it Goliath because if you call it Goliath then at least you know where it's gonna wind up life is too short to live negative sour letting circumstances dictate our attitude every morning you need to make the decision this is another day the Lord has made I'm going to live it in faith I'm going to be positive I'm going to see the best I'm going to make the most of this day let me tell you something every day every moment of your life you need God's help every there's not a moment

in our lives when we do not when we are not desperate you understand me desperate for God's help if I were you I would probably say no less than a hundred times a day God help me God help me just help me you don't even have to know what you need help for because I can guarantee you you need help for something just God help me and I I I wish that I could explain the mystery of it to you but just to sit down don't worry so much about what you do when you spend

time with God well if I spend time with God what do I do truthfully and I hope this you know is not doctorly insane but I don't really think it matters so much what you do I think the thing that's important is that you have come to him you're giving him time and by coming to him you're saying I'm afraid to start this day without you I don't trust myself I need you help me strengthen me now obviously when you add studying the word to that and and you learn principles of prayer and confessing the

word yes there's a lot of spiritual disciplines that we can practice in that time but I think that too often people worry about what they're supposed to do and they have this set formula and they try to follow it every day and it won't be long and you're going to get really bored with it but if you follow the Holy Spirit there will be creativity and variety and you're going to enjoy the time and you're not even really going to know what happened you just know that you were and God was and there was a

connection that you don't understand and now all of a sudden you've got a brighter outlook on the day than you had when you went to spend that time let's all be people who really want to bear good fruit let's not be the kind of person that just our whole walk with God is just to get him to give us what we want let's be more concerned about what we can give to God how we can represent him how we can be an ambassador for Christ and early in the morning while it was still dark he

rose and he went and departed to a lonely place and he was praying there Jesus he demonstrates for us that to be stirs of revival that even when the whole city is at our door when there's a need at church there's a need at work there's a need with this group of friends there's a need even over here everywhere people are pulling at us and tugging at us and our schedules are busy and full and replete with things to do put first things first so that we build margin into our lives so that early in

the morning if that's the best time for you what that symbolizes is priority wherever you need to put it in your life so that you have prioritized intimate time with the father Jesus knew even if everybody is knocking at my door I'm not going to let everybody else's expectations of me determine what I do with my time I'm gonna have some supernatural priorities I'm gonna put first things first and keep the things that are most important to my father I'm gonna make sure those things are also most important to me and when we live with

the favor of God in our lives not resting in our laurels but resting in his favor that is upon us and when we have supernatural uh priorities when our friends see that when they're busy doing everything for everybody but we say you know what give me a moment so that I can meet with my father to get some clear direction for me and my children and my spouse and my family and my career when they see us prioritizing our relationship with God when we lift him up in these ways people will be drawn revival will

be stirred a match will be lit fire will spread folks will want to know who is this God I believe that if we totally give ourselves to God he will give us what we want it may not be what we thought we wanted but it will sure make us happy it will be the thing that nobody else can give us and we will be so fulfilled now if things seem to be going a different direction than what you want them to go just say God I trust you your will be done and not mine don't

ever be afraid to let God do what he wants to do in your life that's why I stay on this thing all the time about spending time with God spending time with God spending time with God and realizing that our walk with God is not just a Sunday morning event and the enemy wants nothing more than to keep the people of God from actually experiencing God experiencing God outside of church if he can keep our experiences with God limited to the time we're just corporately gathered together he's got us right where he wants us what

he does not want what is dangerous to the kingdom of God is someone who leaves the room like this and actually encounters God in the regular rhythms of their everyday living if the only time you are soaking in the presence of God is once a week at your home church I'm so glad you go but that ain't good enough if the only time you're in the presence of God is once a week at bible study I'm so glad y'all are in bible study but that ain't good enough you've got to have a daily ongoing encounter

and meeting with the presence of God so that his presence becomes your daily portion and your public life will only ever be as powerful and as successful as your private prayer life do you know what's going to compel people to come to this God that we serve it's when you go back home or back to your job or back to that organization where you know the task to which you have been assigned you're the underdog you're not as smart as they are you don't have as much skill as they do you don't have as much

talent as she does and yet somehow by the power of almighty God that marks your life you do not shrink back in fear and insecurity passing off the task to somebody else but you believe that if God has called you to it he's gonna equip you for it and you step into the gap and you fill the space and the power of almighty God when the world sees us operating y'all with supernatural ability the world will take note that there's got to be a God that we serve that is giving us this kind of confidence

not confidence in our own flesh but confidence in the power of God to operate in our weakness one of the main ways we're going to see the power of God in our own experience I'm talking about where this God that was powerful enough to divide the red sea in the old testament powerful enough to raise Lazarus from the dead in the new testament one of the ways we're going to see this God of the bible leap up off the page and actually experience him in a tangible real practical way in our lives do you know

when that happens it happens when you're in a position that you're in over your head it is beyond you you know you're not capable you don't have enough time you don't have enough money you don't have enough patience you don't have enough ideas you don't have enough creativity you're not gifted enough talented enough and yet you excel by the power of God it's when he takes you into a position where you know you can't do it in your natural resources and he gives you his resources to complete the task here's the trouble with us when

we're compelled to do something for which we know we are outmatched we let fear talk us out of doing it which means we let fear talk us out of an opportunity to experience God I want to compel you and encourage you that if you've been shrinking back in insecurity from a task to which you know you have been called but you've been passing it off to somebody else who you think is more suited for the task I want to ask you to consider the fact that that exact opportunity is the way he plans to demonstrate

his power through you it's the way he intends for everybody else in your office to want to know about this God that you serve it's the way he intends for the people that are on your university campus or or are in that organization or that ministry in which you're involved this is the way where he will draw attention to himself he will glorify himself when we step into the places for which we are not capable in our own natural talent and ability have a friend who puts it this way we pray for miracles but then

in the next breath we pray and say Lord please keep me out of any situation in which a miracle would actually be required everybody wants to see the Red Sea divided but nobody actually wants to be the one that's face to face with a Red Sea everybody wants to see the walls of Jericho come tumbling down but nobody wants to be the one who actually has to walk around those walls in obedience to God's word we want to see miracles but nobody wants to be in a place where we have to see miracles when you've

been compelled to do something for which you know you are outmatched but you know God's spirit is compelling you to do it anyway this is your opportunity to see the power of God on display if he's called you to the Red Sea that means he intends to divide it if you'll just show up hold out your rod and expect that great supernatural things are on the way You know I know of of no better way to start my day slowly and calmly than with a quiet time with God if I start rushed I'm going to

stay rushed if I start my day in a hurry I'm going to spend my day in a hurry but if I start my day with God I'm going to spend my day with God I have a choice to make if I start my day with God he stays in the front of my mind all day it's like a continuing conversation that gets started it lets God set the agenda it's let it lets him set the the pace it puts God in control if I start just by giving the the first part of my day to

him somebody once said that God is your commander-in-chief so don't forget your daily briefing meditation is the most important aspect of prayer most of you never meditate never you talk too much in prayer you never hear from God while you're talking and 99% of your prayer is you talking and when you finish talking far as you're concerned the exercise is over so you leave let me tell you your dream is never revealed to you while you're talking and we think prayer is talking when you go to prayer again please pray 10 minutes and sit for

60 and just listen you'll be amazed how loud he speaks finally he gets to talk prayer is you talking meditation is you listening suppose you and I have a conversation you come to see me to ask for some things you tell me everything and there's no way for me to even tell you what I want to do you just leave that's stupid isn't it we do it to God all the time and God go and say wait don't go I didn't answer you yet where are you going right and you're gone you think you already

did your prayer time see and you keep asking God how come I'm not hearing from you how come I'm not getting any direction from you God's saying because you don't you don't wait for the directions you give me instructions a forest is not ahead of the seed it's in the seed your future is in you been there all along but there's too much noise so once you get home remote on in the car God is saying man this is a lot of noise for the last 50 years I can't even get to this person how

did God get to talk to Abraham God says leave your home let's talk in the mountain see the reason why you can't discover you even you're what you were born to do is because you don't even make time to discover it because it is not so important what we say to God as it is what God says to us sometimes I think there's so much noise around us that we cannot hear God and how can we walk with the God that we cannot hear we must hear from him he's our navigational system the way the

navigational system operates in the car that's the way God wants to operate in your life what I love about my system is even when you do something dumb and make a wrong turn it recalibrates and says turn around make a u-turn and go back sometimes we need God to tell us when we've made a wrong turn and how to make a u-turn and get back on track and go where we need to go but how can he talk to us when the first thing we do is grab the telephone and we start talking to all

kinds of people about what we're going through and what's happening in our lives and what's going on with our children and what's going on with our marriage and we're watching tv and we're listening to that music and all the while God has said if you cut all that stuff off for a minute I want to talk to you I want to talk to you I want to speak to you I want to show you how to get through this season in your life this moment in your destiny this present danger that you face he said

I can navigate you through it just like that time with God quiet time is actually God's idea because if God didn't want to speak to you then he wouldn't have given us his word he wouldn't have given us the bible if God didn't want to hear from you then he wouldn't invite you to pray I mean why would God invite you to come into his presence if he didn't want to be in yours he loves you and he's very communicative God is a chatterbox he wants to talk to you he has something to say to

you every day in his word and he wants to hear from you every day in prayer he's highly relational so if I'm going to set time aside in the morning to have my quiet time with God just a few minutes well what does that look like how do I actually do a quiet time the first rule in this setting time aside for a quiet time is slow down slow down and that probably sounds obvious but sometimes obvious things are not so obvious you have to slow down because God is never in a hurry and you

can't hear God's voice if you're just rushing all the time you have to slow down to hear what he wants to say to you that's why you have to get up a little bit earlier so you're not just rushing into your day and you don't have time so you just find a quiet place you grab your bible maybe a journal get a cup of coffee or tea or whatever you want in the morning and just go spend a few minutes with the Lord here's what Jesus said about it in Matthew 6 he said here's what

I want you to do just find a quiet secluded place so you won't be tempted to role play before God you're not going to try to put on airs or impress anybody he says just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage and the focus will shift from you to God and you will begin to sense his grace now since a quiet time is a conversation with God then you should probably let God start the conversation because this may be news to some of you he is God and you are not so you

probably ought to start by letting him start the conversation you don't start with an hour of prayer you don't start by telling him what's on your mind start with just a moment of prayer a simple moment that says Lord here I am I'm ready I want to hear from you today would you just open my eyes open my ears open my heart to whatever it is you want to say see everybody thinks that hearing God's voice is this once in a lifetime opportunity and it's this every once in a while he only talks to you

on special occasions that's not true he's talking to you every day he wants to talk to you every single day look at the scripture in Isaiah 50 he says this he awakens me morning by morning he awakens my ear to listen as a disciple God's trying to talk to you every single day you just have to listen you just have to listen either you don't know his voice or you are too busy to listen see don't let the busy of your day drowned out the voice of your God let me tell you something about busy

busy b-u-s-y being under satan's yoke busy busyness will rob you of the ability to hear your God because we we like to fill up our day with all these things to do and before you know it you go days weeks sometimes even months and years without hearing God's voice and the enemy will use busy to keep you from God doing God's will and hearing his voice see margin is the opposite of busy margin says I'm gonna value my quiet time with God it's the most important part of my day so that's where I'm going to

invest my time you want to start your day off with quiet time but let's be a little honest some of us aren't morning people some of us ain't morning people it's okay I get it I'm not really a morning person either so some of us have to get real creative about our quiet time for some maybe it's just turning off the radio on the way to work so you can spend a few times a few minutes of silence with God maybe it's the first 15 minutes of your work day before you do anything else I'm

going to spend time just listening and praying or maybe at lunch time you eat your food a little bit faster for 15 minutes and spend the rest of your time with God or maybe at night instead of binge watching six episodes on Netflix you watch five and use that last hour to spend some time with God whatever it is that's not the point the point is make sure you value margin enough to protect your quiet time with God because God absolutely wants to speak to you he loves speaking to you I don't know what trouble

you may be facing or pain you may be feeling but I do know this you need to hear God's voice and the way you're going to hear God's voice is if you slow down and listen Oh Lord in the morning you hear my voice in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and I watch so let the first thing out of your mouth in the morning while you're still on the pillow let the first thing be a cry to God I love you Lord I need you Lord help me Lord that is the first

cry out of my mouth in the morning I need you again today let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love for in you I trust make me know the way I should go for to you I lift up my soul how precious to me are your thoughts of God I awake and I am still with you very few of us wake up with our whole soul spring loaded to love God and love people I do think the great commandment does set the agenda for our mornings and our midday and our evening we are

to love God with all of our hearts soul mind strength when we wake up in the morning and we are to prepare ourselves to love our neighbor serve our neighbor as our selves and what we want in in the morning routine is to be filled with the Holy Spirit we want something that gives us a zeal for the glory of Christ for the day's work we want to be strengthened to face whatever the day may bring outside of God you're never going to be happy outside of him you're never going to have peace but when

he comes and comes and steps into your life he's the prince of peace and he brings peace and suddenly you begin to see yourself the way that he sees you that he loves you and that he has a wonderful plan for your life and he says I know the plans I have for you say the Lord plans to prosper your plan is not to harm you plans to give you a hope in the future and he wants to tell you I know there's an enemy out there that hates you and he wants to destroy you

but come hook up with me and I'll help you and I'm going to help you take care of yourself and I'm going to help you deal with the enemy because I'm going to give you the power to take care of everything that you need you're not going to live by yourself you're going to live with me you're going to follow me you're going to obey me you're going to do my purpose my plan for your life the enemy has a plan but you're opting out of his plan you just say I opt out of your

plan and I'm hooking up with God's plan for my life and then know that he's already worked it all out God's gone before you 10 20 years 30 years if Jesus he's gone before you he really knows the end from the beginning he's gone before you to make the crooked pass straight and he wants you to trust him with your life the times we get into problems is because we want to do it all we want to get it all laid out we want to bring I'm going to do it my way I don't want

to listen to anything that God has and then we struggle and we spin our wheels but when we come to him and we surrender okay okay I've tried it my way but I'm going to give myself to you you take over I'll go where you want me to go I'll do what you want me to do I'll say what you want me to say I'll be what you want me to be not my will but don't be done then you healed yourself to him you worked for him somebody said who do you think you are

I'm a child of the king I belong to God get up in the morning and invite good things into your life I am blessed I am strong I am talented I am disciplined I am focused I am prosperous take what you have and make the most of it God made you like you are on purpose he gave you your looks your height your skin color your nose your personality nothing about you is by accident you didn't get overlooked you didn't get left out God said in Ephesians you are my masterpiece instead of going around down

on yourself feeling unattractive too tall too short not enough of this too much of that no dare to get up in the morning and say I am a masterpiece I am created in the image of almighty God I wonder what would happen if all through the day not in front of other people but in privacy in the shower driving to work underneath our breath instead of being down on ourselves and discrediting who we are and focusing on all of our flaws what would happen if we would be bold like David to say I am amazing

I am wonderful I am valuable I am a masterpiece I am a child of the most high God you won't have that weak defeated I'm just average mentality no you'll carry yourself like a king like a queen not in pride not being better than somebody but with a quiet confidence with the knowing that you've been hand picked by the creator of the universe and you have something amazing to offer this world God is out always searching and looking for an army looking for a people that are tested and tried and have proven him faithful but

you see God can't do anything where there is no faith where there is all doubt Jesus couldn't do mighty miracles there because of their doubt and their unbelief when you make a commitment to believe God and not doubt him in any situation has to come a time when all the why's why God are gone until all those questions are gone you say I have a loving father I stand here and rest boasting only in the word of God and in his Holy Spirit and he's been faithful to give rest and peace to my soul God

never gets tired he's not frustrated he's not old and he's not confused and he's not trying to find answers to the problems but God doesn't go to anybody else to ask anybody else because he has it all within himself isn't that awesome he's on your side he's for you he's a big God he's an awesome God he's almighty God just worship him just say Monday morning I'm just gonna worship you today I'm gonna worship you the whole day I'm gonna worship you through lunch and into the evening and when I lay on my bed I'm

gonna worship you and when I wake up Tuesday I'm gonna worship you and then Wednesday I'm gonna worship you this week I'm a worship God I'm gonna bless him I will bless the Lord and give him glory come on I promise you everything will look different by next week how big is God how mighty is he he's awesome hallelujah he can go to the highest star and he's there into the lowest valley and he's there and I want you to know this beyond anything else that the Lord is with you he's with you I there's

a lot of things I don't know one thing I know the Lord is with me and I know that he's on my side and he's for me he's not against me and it's with you and he's for you when you get up in the morning don't focus on all your flaws look in the mirror and dare to say I am beautiful I am one of a kind I am hand picked by almighty God I am valuable I am a masterpiece you are who God says you are people may have tried to push you down and

tell you what you can't become let that go in one ear and out the other ear what somebody said about you doesn't determine your destiny God does you need to know not only what you are but you need to know what you are not in other words I am not who people say I am I am who God says I am I am not the tale I am the head I am not a borrower I am a lender I am not cursed I am blessed somebody may have spoken negative words over you even when you

were younger but know this before anyone could put a curse on you God put a blessing on you before you were formed in your mother's womb God knew you and he approved you when God made you he stepped back and said I like that that was good another masterpiece he stamped his approval on you other people may try to disapprove you don't go around feeling less than feeling inferior our attitude should be I am approved by almighty God I am accepted I am a masterpiece you may feel unqualified but before you were born God equipped

you he empowered you you are not lacking anything God has already stamped his approval on you people may try to push you down but when you know God has approved you you realize I don't need other people's approval I've been equipped empowered anointed by the creator of the universe The first thing you want to take care of every day Lord bless me why so you can be a blessing keep me from the evil of the day keep me from the evil of the day every day you wake up you don't know what evil have been

designed to try to take you down and to trouble you so go ahead of it and say keep me from the evil of the day choose fellowship with God daily choose fellowship with God daily try to learn what pleases the Lord and have nothing to do with the things done in darkness which are not worth anything walk with him walk with him for life now let me ask you this is there anything in your life that you're willing to be fully committed to for the rest of your life there might be things you're committed to

right now that's taking your time and your energy and you shouldn't be committed to those because God wants first priority in your life and a whole heart commitment and God says what's most important is that you be with me above everything else that you get to know me it means that when I wake up in the morning I need to say God no matter what happens today I need to get to know you a little bit more I need to learn how to love you a little bit more and it could be the best day

I've ever had but I need to make sure I need to learn to love you and know you a little bit more and God says if you do that that day was a success and the opposite is true too which is let's say you get up and you don't even think about God and you've got this great day you go you make the sale you finally get the job you finally get a date with a live girl whatever it is okay you your success that day it's your best day ever that you've got and you

forget about God God says that day was a waste it was a failure because you forgot me what's most important is that you get to know the Lord and get to know him and it's a mistake that you and I make all the time in our lives where we don't think about inviting God into our daily experiences we think God I've got this I got my dating don't worry about my dating I've got it God I know what I'm doing oh God don't worry about my work I'm good I'm good God I've got my work

don't worry about my dreams God oh don't touch my dreams don't worry about them I've got them and we totally rule out God am I going to put my faith in my own wisdom in my own power my own resources or am I going to trust God am I going to let God do the battle for me and trust his power and his provision in my life and the fact is is that when we make that choice we need to know that God wants to do battle for us God wants to go before us in

battle he wants to go with you in battle he wants to help you in your troubles and the problems that you have so whatever trouble you're in whatever battle you're in right now seek the Lord seek his power he wants to give it to you prayer is a weapon of our faith it is one of the greatest weapons of our faith it should be our first response and not our last resort when we go through times of trouble call out to God and rely on him God wants you to know that he wants you to

experience the fullness of his presence in your life not just every day of your life but every moment of your life you can experience his presence if you want it you can tap into it and that's the promise he gives us he promises his presence in our lives when we seek after him you may go through deep waters you will go through deep waters in your life but you will not drown you will go through storms in life and God will get you through those storms and when you go to battle you need to know

that God wants to be there with you and protect you and you will not be destroyed one of one of the greatest truths of the bible is if God is for us who can be against us here's Jesus invitation to you here's what he says in Matthew 11 Jesus said come to me that's the seeking part come to me all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens all the things that are weighing you down and here's his promise and I will give you rest let me teach you because I am humble and gentle at

heart and you will find the rest for your souls and so what I can tell you with great honesty and sincerity is that if you're in the desert and you're in the battle and you've been in there for a long time and you you're gonna be in it God's presence will be with you and he will protect you and he will give you the rest and I have found if I have that that is all I need I don't have to have the answers I don't have to understand but if I got God and I

feel him and I know him and he's there then I am good how do we need to make sure that we don't miss out on God's blessing when we're seeking him well there's a familiar verse that gives us great direction it's Proverbs 3 5 and 6 it says this trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding and in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths this word trust means to trust him not just in the convenient ways not just in the easy ways not even

just in the spiritual ways but trust him in all of the ways that we have in our lives and the big and the small trust them on the roads of life that you've been on before and trust them on the roads you've never been on and those paths you've never taken and those safari crazy roads where there is no path that you're out there in the middle of the wilderness on your own trust him and this word acknowledge in here this word acknowledge means a deep intimate penetrating relationship where you know a person in the

deepest and fullest sense that's the kind of relationship God wants to have with you and with me so our life goal needs to be this that we need to seek God in every area of our life when we don't know what to do and we need to seek God when we do know what to do we need to seek him in the big things in the small things we need to invite him into the conversations we need to invite him in the daily life because yesterday's victories don't determine today's successes and even when you think

you know how to answer the problem that you're in you still need to go to God you still need to trust him because the greatest faith of yesterday will not give us the confidence of today unless we stay connected to God because he wants to bless our lives God wants to have his best for your life he wants to have his hand on your life he wants to give you the protection and his presence and rest and hope and all the things that he wants to do for you he wants that second chronicles 16:9 it

says the eyes of the Lord search the whole earth they search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts that are fully committed to him this verse says that God is searching he's looking he's seeking the entire earth for somebody for a people for a person for a church that's willing to be fully committed to him so that he can bless them and have his hand on them and give you and give me his best he is seeking after you God wants us to seek him but he is seeking us he is seeking

us because he loves us and he wants to give you his best we need to do our responsibility and then cast our care you do what you can do about the things in your life that you can do something about and then when you cannot do anything about it you cast it on God and you trust him and it's perfectly okay for you to enjoy your life while you have a problem I said it is perfectly okay for you to go ahead and enjoy your life while God is working on your problem it's not that

nothing's happening it's just that you're not the one that's making something happen so whatever you have going on in your life tonight don't waste one more day in excessive sadness and grief and depression and discouragement because you can't do anything about it and Jesus paid for you to be able to enjoy your life to have it in abundance to the full until it overflows so we are totally wasting what God gives us if we waste our days in sadness and mourning learn how to focus on good things everybody here has got something they could be

upset about if they chose to focus on it but you don't have to focus on that and what we focus on is what we magnify in our lives what we talk about is what we become more consciously aware of in our lives if there's a problem that needs to be dealt with it deal with it but don't focus on it think about the possibilities in your life not the problems in your life Hebrews 12:2 very simply says looking away from all that will distract unto Jesus who is the author and the finisher of our faith

learn how to celebrate the good instead of grieving excessively over the bad things in life no matter where you started in life you can have a good finish it doesn't really matter where you begin you have got a good finish coming let's have a shift in our thinking let's have a shift in what we're focusing on surely you can find something in your life to focus on that's worth celebrating and we're going to be excited about the things that are yet to be done that we know that God is working on and that God is

doing every day when you and I wake up we should be asking the Lord to give us direction for our life that day you don't know who you're going to meet you don't know whether you're going to get to your job or not in other words are you living your life in relationship to God are you seeking his will his purpose his plan for your life are you just living it out and you call upon him when you feel like you really need him when something has reached beyond your capacity to handle God has the

best will for every single one of us he has the best plan for us he doesn't keep it a secret you don't have to do this that in order to find out what God wants you to do you need to ask him and be willing to do what he says first thing we always do in every situation is go to God I'll say it over and over apart from him we can do nothing God always wants us to come to him in prayer and he's always ready to help us and he's always ready to do

what we cannot do he is a miracle-working God what cannot be overcome in prayer what cannot be done by the hand of the almighty he can take down the iron curtain in a day he can convert a nation in an hour call upon him believe him the bigger your problem the more time you need to spend with God I like to get my day started with time with God some people tell me that's hard for them they're not early morning people to be honest even if even if you start with two minutes at least before

you do anything else say something to God because he is the most important person for you to talk to and I prefer that you do it before you ever get out of bed because no matter how much of a holy plan I have for myself Lord help me but if you never ask God for direction in your life what you are saying by your conduct your attitude is I can do without him I don't need his direction I don't need his help I can make it without it when you live day after day without consulting

with God asking Lord what's your will what what what what pleases you what honors you if I live day after day without asking that what I'm saying is I don't need him do you act like you don't need him or do you act like you need him the less time you think you have to spend with God the more time you need to spend with God and spending time with God may be something that you hear about all the time but for some reason it's something that people have a very difficult time actually plugging into

their schedule and really being committed to doing it on a regular basis day after day after day after day how many of you would say that satan really fights you hard about your time with God it can find all kinds of other things for you to do so time with God is just what it is it's just time with God and I don't think it matters so much what you do with that time as it does that you honor him by setting aside the time because in doing that you're saying God I cannot do life

right without you so I'm here to let you know that I need you and I need your help today in every single thing that I do when is the last time you said God what do you want me to do about this God what about my relationship to her or to him God what about my job Lord what about where you want me to live Lord what about changing jobs when is the last time you opened yourself up to holy God who knows everything and has your best interests at heart when is the last time

you opened your heart to him and said Lord show me your will what would you have me to do there are many people who don't think they need the will of God they're living their lives according the way they want to live it but they're miserable and many people are miserable and will not turn to God because they think they're smart enough to figure it out it's amazing to me Lord that every problem that we deal with the answer is in your word every single one of them the word of God will work in your

life if you will do what it tells you to do study the word don't do it as an obligation do it because you're wise so would you say you live by the will of God in your life or have you decided that you can handle it on your own God has a plan and a will for your life he has the best plan and he has a will that fits you perfectly your talents your your abilities your skills everything about you fits what God wants to do in your life you say well but uh I'm

not as skilled as other people well I understand that and but but you are equipped for something that is God did not leave you out you may feel like sometimes what does my life count your life counts because remember this when Jesus died he had you and mine he had every single one of us in mind let me ask you a question what's the point of even getting out of bed if you've got to get out of bed and be upset all day I mean the answer is not to hide from life it's not to

avoid our issues is to learn how to deal with things the way Jesus dealt with things talk to him daily listen to him ask him for guidance because God in heaven is listening he wants to hear from us there's not a single aspect of your life which you should just erase from your relationship to God we need him about everything you need him in your marriage with your children with your job all of us need him and to go day after day and not read his word day after day and not asking for direction and

guidance in your life is to say I don't need him holy God wants the best for you there's nowhere in the scripture that you can find that God doesn't want the best for you he has a plan for your life it's not the same plan as other people's lives it's different that God doesn't judge us by comparing us to other people you won't be like someone else you want to be like what God intended for you God loves you he has a will and a plan for your life you say well I'm 50 years old

I just got saved what's God's will he takes you where you are and listen he knows how to overcome your past erase all the mistakes no but what he'll do is enable you to overcome the mistakes enable you to get a different view on life to enable you to have a relationship with Jesus Christ that will amaze you everybody makes mistakes everybody's sinned everybody has fallen at times about some things God wants the best for us listen through the last day of our life and God wants to be in the center of your life he

wants to be at the hub of your life he's willing to give you guidance he's willing to show you the truth but you've got to surrender your life to him do you think that God would have a plan for your life that would just be horrible no he wouldn't does it mean your plan his plan is always easy no there are many people who go through very difficult things in life it doesn't mean that God doesn't care it doesn't mean they're out of God's will you say well I've made mistakes so there's no hope for

me yes there's hope for you you can't get in the mess God can't get you out of it may be painful but he gets you through it God loves you he knows why we make mistakes no one can guide you like God can he knows everything about you he know he knows the handicaps in your life he knows the things that you've missed he knows the desires of your heart he knows that you don't have what some other people have but he knows why he created you and he wants you to have a sense of

fulfillment in life he does not want you miserable he wants you to have a sense of fulfillment in life you reflect him if you trust in him as your savior God wants the best for you God is not going to turn a deaf ear to you it doesn't make any difference what you've done and the mess you've made of it will he listen if you'll cry out to him he will he hasn't overlooked you he loves you doesn't make a difference where you've been what you've done what's happened the mess that you're in he loves

you just the same listen you cannot alter the love of God for yourself God will forgive you period he's willing to take the mess you've made and turn it into something awesome if you're willing and sometimes you think well I I don't deserve it who of us deserves anything if you wonder what he'll do for you first of all look at the cross that's how much he loves you that's what he's done for you first of all he died in order that you may have life and have it more abundantly he died in order to

be able to forgive you for the messes you've made in your life he died in order to make it possible to give you a new beginning and a new hope you have an opportunity for God to change your life starting today