Essentials Of Effective Meditation - Part 2

Welcome to the intense podcast for Wednesday, December 1 your calendar look at any time allotted to being alone with God.

Get help rearranging priorities in part two of the essentials of effective meditation. I think there are several essentials to effective meditation is available to talk about the six essentials to effective meditation because… Until you learn to be quiet before the Lord, you will never be satisfied. The Christian life will always be something missing and not all that you will never have the effectiveness in your life with all the people if you do not learn to meditate upon his word and with him so I does one mention of these six things primarily in the very simple yet sometimes the simple things we overlook and sometimes need to be reminded of them.

But I think there are six things primarily that are absolutely essential if you are not going to grow in our personal relationship to be graciously our intimate relationship with him. Ultimately it is the thing that determines our effectiveness for so if you want to be used effectively for him and you will join your Christian life is just some things that God requires. I think there are six essentials in here they are number one that is a season of time. You got to spend time with him if you want to grow like it is what we gaze upon most of we become like is what we think about most in our minds that most effects is what we become like so season of time and you recall of this passage we mentioned before, but that is not only through Jesus, but David and others as they meditate upon the Lord Jesus got up early morning went up to the mountain to pray to be with her father. He spent time in as we think about how busy your schedule in mind as we think about what we have time for what we don't have time for an essence is what we say. If we don't have time for the Lord Jesus Christ and we don't have time for joy. We don't have time for wisdom.

We don't have time for prosperity. His counter prosperity we don't have time to grow if we don't have time for him. It just takes time and you see it when somebody says to Mabel over what can I really do really grow in the Lord. I mean just move on with God.

Well, there's nothing you can do to move on if you mean girl hurriedly if you want to move on with God, then take time back here with him not to do anything else but be with him. It takes time. Second, essential not only as time. The second essential is stillness to listen you not know that passage in Psalm 46. Be still and know that I'm God that sometimes when if we are not still we are not going to be able to sense him stillness means stop everything else. It's time with stillness when you and I get real steel we can concentrate and think about and we need to think about them.

This is why it's so important when you listen to a sermon, write something down. So when you get by yourself in your thinking about God thinking about the things that you know and so reiterating them to him and reminding them of just being steel and being quiet so the second thing out of something to say. Stillness the third is seclusion and this is what Jesus really had to fight for in his ministry because he says he would go in the mountains near what I credit follow him and he going know suddenly end up here they come, so seclusion for him was a major challenge now by seclusion, I mean getting by yourself is not like being themselves well if you learn to meditate before the Lord set before him being by yourself very important to being with somebody and praying about people is one of but there's something about being alone with him when there's nobody there but just you and the father you in the Lord Jesus all alone, being still unhurried, not checking the clock not answering the telephone. Not only was going on. I wonder how often you and I get quiet before the Lord and will and by the service, so let me ask a question when's the last time you got by yourself just to listen to God still just listening unhurried, no clock, nothing that we are real honest is it not true that not many folks spend very much time like that is always something to do but nothing so important. It's just being quiet before God. I just want to emphasize seclusion by being alone with him and just listening all right this one over here and that is we talk about silence.

For example, in that is being being silent for not doing all the talking in the 30th Psalm 30 chapter of Isaiah and the 15th for somebody says in quietness and in confidence or trust is our strength. There is an awesome sense of change that takes place in a person's life when they sit before lie or prostrate themselves before the Lord in silence. Not talking and something happens to the physical body, not just in your spirit in your mind something happens. The physical body, and there are times when I can to stretch out before him and be quiet and listen by myself.

Something happens to their times when we may be weary and physically tired and worn. It doesn't take a long time when you just lie before him. It is hello I just want to speak to my spirit as we speak them. I just speak to my heart, Lord knows anything else let him do the talking.

Let me ask you this question. Is this a habit in your life begin the car, radio you walk in the house. Click on the television, radio, are you comfortable in your house with nothing going on.

No television, no radio, no sounds are you comfortable that way you have have some that have some noise you see what I call noisy believers that I got have some going all the time I make a already elicited tape listen even listening to one of my tapes to someone else's. There times when you only listen to me you need to listen to God.

Just be quiet and listen to silence someone asked again. Can you be comfortable in your house or your apartment with nothing going on, just quietness. If you can't maybe ask yourself the question, why can I not be satisfied being alone with God. I tell you, you will never grow in your spiritual life. Until you learn to be quiet when my heart is tuned to God. That's not being in active or passive, that is being divinely active God is the one who's doing the moving, not me. And so Jesus understood what it meant to sit before his father. Stillness, quietness, and to listen the next word is self-control. Self-control means that I admit that I have to deal with this with silence allowed to deal with sitting still out there with with with giving God time self-control.

I'm not saying that what we told that is easy is not easy is not easy for me at times. Sometimes it isn't sometimes not, but self-control means that I'm going to give myself to the spirit of God to the point that he can still work in my heart that my desire to go do this my desire to watch a listen. This my desire to be released to my desire to do this at the other is brought under control so that my most preeminent desire is to be quiet and to be alone with him. Self-control that not many folks who have that about many areas of their life. Self-control is an absolutist discipline. It is self-discipline. Discipline not desire controls our destiny that now is discipline and not desire the controls our destiny. That is when we discipline ourselves in certain areas. For example, you start the school year to get up a certain time of the morning had to be there needed. You have a job and you have disciplined yourself to leave home in time to take care of the traffic in order to get there by 830 9 o'clock.

One of the job starts.

What about time with God is the you will displease your boss, your earthly boss. What about the heavenly boss who is our heavenly father we sold discipline to do this for the world, and almost nothing for God, there is that his God gets what's left over if I'm really doing my spiritual life I can give you much left over. I got to even the best I could never tell anybody else, when the best is because their personalities are different for me it's early in the morning and for me I can also delighted night in the wonders like indifference to me, but for some people they can get up knowing everything get up in the morning and even though God saliva me that that's just that's just the way their personalities, their metabolism is that you can't tell her about it, you should do it my way. I'm not saying that I'm saying you find when you the freshest and give that to God. Give that time to him and is not the same for everybody but it just takes this one that is we make mistakes and you see samosas while making New Year's resolutions and here's what I'm now doing about eight days later out of soda do they forget it they say won't work. Discipline says I had to come back and keep working on myself until I get to I get myself doing what I know is right of the power of the Holy Spirit we can do that. You see discipline says I have to bring myself to get myself under control the power of the Holy Spirit is enabling and God will enable us, self-discipline is an essential in the Christian life and it's essential to meditation. It is not easy thousand things will crowd them out. You have to decide and going to the apostle Paul in instrument himself. As I read the biographies of all the great preachers on every single one of them, with no exception, with no exception. What was the bottom line of spiritual walk there on private meditation of God and you know what every single one of our member reading something about Spurgeon's by 1800s, and some you know what his biggest challenge was all the meetings had to go to saliva had changed a lot. It's what we knew that his mother will say the reason some people were exceptions is because they're willing to pay the price cell. This discipline daily discipline and one of those disciplines is being alone and stillness, quietness, listening to heavenly father speak in the take self-discipline doesn't come easy. Next word in the last word is submission submissive spirit all the talking to God and listening and being quiet and being alone in reading your all that's not going to work as long as you are having a rebellious spirit toward God and you don't want to deal something is what happened you mark this down either in my quiet time with him. I get submissive or what happens you quit having a quiet, I guarantee you will not be systematic in your base. You know why because it's going to get so painful listen when you come before the Lord, and he wants to give you about something you not want to do it again so painful after while what happens, you just don't show up. What I would you fill the time and something else I submissive spirit says father I really want you to speak to me. Whatever you tell me to do. That's what I want to do that doesn't mean sometimes he won't bring something to mind and heart that that gives you a real problem and you find yourself being challenged by what happens is in these times you find yourself wrestling with him sure that those time is going to be those times, but a submissive spirit says Lord I do want to grow.

I want you to clean out my life, what doesn't belong. I want you to bring in my life what you want and I want you to give me the wisdom to be able to discern what that is and is I get into your word and this is why this is so important being in the word. You can be reading in Genesis, Exodus, you name it. It's amazing how God can take the simple events of Scripture written thousands of years ago and you may look anything wasn't happy with my life and here's a passage here's a verse or hear something that God says that Sunday strikes your heart and I was reading this past week. A couple of passages but one especially something that I read many many many times before.

It just really grabbed my heart I thought my God, you are really saying something to me. It was a mistake in one of his servants made.

I'm in a real big mistake. I looked at that and I thought Lord you turn to say something to me and God just brought to my mind just reminded me that I had to be absolutely submissive, absolutely committed no matter what if you asked me if I were to said washer.

I am but reading what he had said to his servant made me realize though I wasn't.

I thought I was but I was in your seat. That's why you if you just find something that you want to read it looks interesting. Just get start reading. It's amazing.

It's amazing how God can take the events of his servants.

Whether it's a man or woman is making a difference and you find yourself being a picture drawn it's right there in front of you. What happens in God's always letting us the submission and yielding this and surrender.

That's what exact he's after bringing us into such oneness with him that what that that one. This means intimacy and that intimacy means ineffectiveness in our witness for God effectiveness in our walk effectiveness in a relationship. The real sample until you try that all of a sudden is not all that simple. I just want to say this to you one more time.

There is no way you try everything out you want to try. There is no way to grow in your intimacy wrote an intimate relationship with him. There is no way to be really effective for God with spiritual impact without doing what we talked about doing this is know what you know why because God is in impressed with all its ability, talent, eloquence.

He's not impressed.

The charismatic personality not present any of that stuff in a while because all he wants is our heart and he wants a loving relationship with us and that means I had to give him time, quietness, stillness and seclusion get my life in the control submit my spirit to him and listen to him get his word and be quiet, let him do his work. What happens, he just anchors your life no matter what happens you find yourself very very very very anchored. Why because you're spending time with him getting his thoughts and his ideas. His perspective and that's what David was doing sitting before the Lord, reviewing his past, recalling how great God was reminding out of his wonderful promises and then making his request before the Lord, but he spent time being quiet still secluded by himself so I want to challenge you to practice this seven days before you get in the bed tonight. If you go by calendar schedule.

You you should you put on that schedule, not calendar a time each day for seven days with 15 minutes, 30 minutes or what you wanted to put something down. Listen if you want those first. Here's a man I don't know about this then what about five minutes, but if you don't put down a time I'm telling is not going to happen.

I want to challenge you before you go to bed on your calendar you so I don't have account I just do whatever comes next and my friend by yourself.

One and listen if you don't put anything on the calendar, but you and God. I tell you if you don't you want. I challenge avoid you go to bed tonight. Choose a time for seven days.

That's all. And see what God is in seven days in your life committed discipline dedicated time it's for him and him only out. They will have. You won't want to stop in seven days. Thank you for listening to party led essentials for effective meditation. If you'd like to know more about her family, intense ministries that find antistatic lighting podcast is a presentation of intense ministries in Atlanta, Georgia