Guarding Your Heart

Christmas gift why not the one with the chicken leaving applicable waves as Christmas gifts chicken maybe it's not the get for your family, but it gives the perfect gift for poor family ninja chicken can break the cycle of poverty for poor family yes chicken chickens and provide food and nourishment for family and they can sell those eggs at the market for income when you donate a chicken or any other gospel for Asia. 1% of what you give goes to the field and get the ball went gospel fundraiser to support family of Jesus family this Christmas and give them a six explanation see chickens and camping hello this is Matt slick from the match look like podcast right defend the Christian faith and lay out our foundational truths of God's word chosen Truth Network podcasts starting in just a few seconds. Enjoy it Sharon but most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing The Truth Podcast Network.

You're listening to TruthNetwork.com encouraging prayer, God offers open imitation for his people to talk with him at any time about anything encouraging prayer Dr. James Banks, author of the best-selling and many other books on prayer provides weekly insight help you learn to mom and now they have encouraging prayer were going to talk about being regarding our hearts. This is such a vital topic as it affects everything we do.

James really probably Proverbs 4 $0.23 above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life and thinking a lot about this lately is my wife and I've been on vacation celebrating our anniversary and congratulations some beers is 35 years. We met a long time for California there we mentioned that in California in dog years ago to keep the place. I really like bald head Island off North Carolina can see why you might like that James, like out there, what nickname I'm going to go on a matter of Mount not old Baldy.

Enough said.

We loved with lighthouse revisited most of the Carolina and Mrs. a very wealthy, I like where you can only drive golf carts and we were walking around. There will everyone else was with and buying a golf cart right lighthouse was this beautiful little chapel.

So we got in there and sat quietly for a few minutes and did I had the chance to think about what was going on in my heart now here we were visiting this idyllic place and it was easy to think that I could get used to this, but at the same time I I also realize that I was measuring myself against others and thinking why cannot afford something like this and and and what I felt was this subtle tug-of-war going on in my heart and yet all the while I found myself thinking, wait a minute, wait a minute. All this stuff that you know you'd like to have.

Comes with a price tag that you really don't want you already have everything you need.

You have Jesus in their not that chapped but in that place of looking for the things the world has to offer and thinking when it be nice.

I think we all struggle with that sometimes. But it's also more than just material things in it.

So true. Thinking about how our hearts can long for relationships or achievement, status, and a number of things. It's amazing how easily we become attached to this world like the line from an old Bruce Springsteen song. Everybody's got a hungry heart, and we have to harden our hearts.

Well to keep them as some versions translate that word out of the Hebrew and and prayer is absolutely vital for this.

In those moments when you feel that that tug-of-war going on in your soul talked about this house thinking about Psalm 23 the Lord is my shepherd, I have everything I need.

I mean, we really do have everything we need in him. And if we guard our hearts because it is the wellspring of life as a proverb says we really guarding and keeping that relationship.

That place where we meet with yeah exactly. It's all about relationship. We need to run to Jesus again and again. Staying is as close as we can for him and you know reading Scripture help so much with their sin and we have to do that every day but Scripture is just a part of that scripture and prayer, work together to help us maintain a daily relationship with God because the spirit moves through his word and that and then encourages us to pray, and in so doing both of those things will opening ourselves to the spirit. I think of Psalm 131 that says my heart is not proud. Lord, my eyes are not too hottie. II do not concern myself with great matters, or things too wonderful for me, but I have called and quieted myself up like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child on content and then the last person Says Oh Israel Put Your Hope in the Lord Forever More.

So Basically You You See the Psalmist's Eyes Turning from the World and Turning to the Lord and Saying I'm Content and What's Interesting to Me about This Is It. Define Spiritual Maturity As Childlike Dependence. You Know He's Describing the Growing Child Is No Longer an Infant but a Child Nonetheless Just Content to Be There with His Mother and Not Ask Anything from Her. Not Trying to Take Anything from Her See That Is so True.

We so Often Go to God That Might I Mean, Not That There's Anything Wrong with Asking Maybes Told Us Asking Wants Us to.

But What's Going on and That's All Wow Something Different, It Really Is What It's Describing Is Just Resting in the Lord, Trusting, Loving, Not Recognizing. You Are Everything I Need and When We Can Do That We We Won't Find Our Hearts Pulled This Where That Whenever the Art Would Just Run to Him Again and and He'll Help Us. Psalm 103 Says Bless the Lord Our Praise the Lord My Soul All My Inmost Being, Praise His Holy Name, and Forget Not All His Benefits, You Know, It Goes on so He Really Is the Source of All Life. The Source of Everything Good and If We Have Him.

We Have Everything We Need Help Keep Us in His Calm Assurance That That He'll Take Care Of Us If Our Eyes Are Really on Him so Hard That Relationship.

Guard Your Heart in It and and He Will Guard You.

That's the Cool Thing That's Happening Here Went Looking for Seven Says the Peace of God, Which Surpasses All Understanding, Shall Guard Your Hearts in Christ Jesus. It's in the Context of Praising the Lord and Presenting Our Request to Him Rejoicing in Him. In Other Words, like like the Song Says, but the Word for Guard There That Talks about the Piece of of God Is Is to Garrison, It's Literally to Surround with Troops and Were Literally Being Surrounded by Jesus Love and Peace As We Run to Him While I Mean. So God Will Guard Our Hearts All the More When We Keep Our Hearts in Him That's Exactly It and the Way We Do That Is by Remembering All We Have in Him and Just Staying Close, Resting in Him Instead of Reaching for the World and and Just Letting His Contentment in Her Place to Be Than with Him That That I Mean I Think of the Old Hymn Yes Too Sweet to Trust in Jesus, Just from Sin and Self to Cease. I Love That Will Affect Us from Sin Itself to See Just from Jesus Simply Taking Life and Rest and Joy and Peace. Let's Finish with a Prayer That That Will Do That.

That Will Keep Our Hearts. Well in Him.

Father, We Can Only Do This If You Help Us but All Are.

Thank You That You Want Us to Do This, and Because You Want Us to Do It. We Can Learn. We Praise You. There's Nothing Better. We've Resting the Moment We Affirm Nothing Matters More Than Being with You so Help Us to Stay Right Here Will Love You Ross Close in Your Life in Jesus Name, Amen. Hear More from Pastor James by Visiting the Website James Banks.org or by Visiting These Church in Durham, North Carolina. May God Bless You and Encourage You As You Pray