Priscilla Shirer: How to Deepen Your Time with God | Praise on TBN

we have all of these Bibles available to

us but the Bible don’t do us no good

just sitting there looking pretty it

only does US good if we know how to

actually take advantage of the truths of

God the fresh breath of God that is

available to us through the scriptures

so I want to talk to you to me to us

challenge us about utilizing God’s word

let’s

pray Lord I praise you I thank you that

your word is living it’s active it’s

sharper than any two-edged sword and

today you are going to use it to speak

to your people father I’m asking you to

challenge us to dive deeply into your

word to cultivate an ongoing vibrant

friendship and relationship with you

through the scriptures father I’m asking

that we will hear your voice not just

today but even more when we are alone uh

by ourselves having our own personal

devotions and quiet time now more than

ever father father we need to hear your

voice and so I’m praying father that you

will speak and that today everyone under

the sound of my voice will know beyond

the shadow of a doubt that they’ve been

in the presence of God in Jesus name

amen my dad got to tell on him just a

little bit he is technologically

challenged every advancement sort of

goes over his head and you know I can

sympathize with him because I’m a little

bit the same way I’m not really into all

of the new ad advances of technology I

can’t quite keep up well he’s been this

way all the time so much so that you

need to know that my father who many of

you know is a pastor he’s been preaching

in in um this community for 44 years or

so my he and my mother started the

church when I was very very very little

um brand new actually they started the

church and so they’ve been preaching and

teaching and shepherding God’s people

for a long time Dad continues to and

just to give you a little bit of an

inkling on where he stands on technology

still to this day my father writes down

all of his sermon notes on one of those

yellow legal pads you know the ones that

come bound together at the top and you

sort of just write down on all of those

lined yellow sheets of paper my father’s

got those yellow pads laying all over

the house he still does not type not a

one note he writes them all by hand to

this day well his um lack of knowledge

in regards to technology isn’t a new

thing early on years ago I remember

maybe 15 years ago or so

when there were no iPads yet you know it

wasn’t as advanced as it is now but

about 15 20 years ago I recall something

that happened my dad really wanted to

figure out how to get online but the

only reason he wanted to get online is

because at the time my youngest brother

Jonathan was playing football for uh

Baylor University he wanted to get on

the Baylor University website so that he

could look up his youngest son John John

who was playing football for Baylor and

if you know anything about my dad he may

not be about technology ology but he

sure is about that football and so with

his youngest son playing college level

football he wanted to do everything he

could to look him up so at the time my

sister was at the house and so he called

Crystal back into the guest room the

fourth bedroom of our parents’ home back

there 20 years ago back in that room

there was a whole monitor that was

sitting on the desk there with a

keyboard but he really didn’t use it and

so he said to Crystal Crystal come back

here show me how to turn this thing on

so when I tell you that they were

starting from scratch I mean they were

starting from scratch my sister came

back to the back room and she said dad

let me show you where the on button is

so you will know in the future how to

turn this thing on once they got it all

powered up then my dad said to her how

do I get to the Baylor homepage so she

showed him how to type in the URL

address so that you can get to the

website that you want to be on so

finally she got him to the Baylor

homepage and just when they got to the

homepage the phone rang cryst had to run

out of the room into the kitchen where

the phone was plugged into the wall and

so she raced out of the room and as she

raced out of the room my dad yelled

after her how do I maneuver around this

page she said back to him use the

mouse so Daddy starts looking around for

a mouse he had no idea what in the world

she was talking about he of course lays

Eyes Upon This little Gadget that’s got

a tail sticking out of it he assumes

this must be the mouse so he picks it up

places it flat on the computer monitor

and begins to drag it up and down side

to side on the actual computer monitor

then when that didn’t work he just held

it up in the air and was sort of just

moving it around in midair my sister

came back to find our fairly bright

stable father waving a mouse around in

the air now here’s what you need to know

that computer has been in the fourth

bedroom of my parents house for a long

time he also has a laptop that someone

gave him and it’s you know folded and

unused in the drawer of his desk at his

office there’s also another computer

monitor and a keyboard that is in his

office space at the church so my point

is he has computers available to him he

has technology available to him but

technology does you know good unless you

know how to use it having it available

is not enough you got to know how to use

it for the next few moments I want to

just encourage you less preach and more

just teach and talk to you about the

importance of us as God’s people not

just having God’s word available to us

but knowing how to use it listen to me

more now than ever before as our culture

continues to be increasingly Godless you

and I are going to going to have to know

how to do what the psalmist said I hide

God’s word in my heart so that I might

not sin against him we got to use God’s

word it’s not enough for us to just have

um the Bible around our home because you

know you got the big pretty one that’s

up on the mantle you’ve got the little

small one that sits on your nightstand

you’ve got the one that’s just for Decor

that might be like a coffee table book

and then you know you have that one that

one that’s got all the dog ears and it’s

got all the underlines and the posted

notes that’s the one that you take to

church with you so you can actually look

you know holy like you use the Bible we

have all of these Bibles available to us

but the Bible don’t do us no good just

sitting there looking pretty it only

does US good if we know how to actually

take advantage of the truths of God the

fresh breath of God that is available to

us through the scriptures so I want to

talk to you to me to us challenge us

about utilizing God’s word truth every

everyone is saying is so relative no one

has a re reverence anymore for the truth

of God as declared in his word now more

than ever if we’re going to be

Unapologetic about our faith if we’re

going to be able to stand firm against

the schemes of the enemy if we’re going

to be able high school student and

University student and mother and father

wife husband single woman single man

entrepreneur Ministry president if we’re

going to be having the opportunity to

stand firm then we got to know the truth

of God’s word and we’ve got to be able

to live off of every word that God

speaks to us we’ve got to be found on

our knees in prayer and prioritizing our

time in God’s word I want to tell you

this before I share with you some

principles that actually have

transformed the way I spend time in the

word of God the enemy wants to convince

you he wants to convince me that God has

some sort sort of hotline connection

between he and certain people that it’s

just our spiritual leaders our pastors

our Bible study teachers the folks that

are on staff the people that are in

full-time Ministry the folks that have

you know a microphone on their jacket

the people that are in the spotlight the

folks who we go past their Instagram

feed and we are um admonished or

encouraged because they are teaching and

preaching to masses the enemy wants you

to think that it’s a seminary degree

that is required before you can actually

have a fervent ongoing relationship with

God where you yourself can open up the

word of God and know that the Holy

Spirit can illumin the scriptures and

give you guidance and Direction and

insight and Clarity and encouragement

and comfort he wants you to think that

that kind of fervent friendship with God

is only for certain people because he

knows that as long as you and I are not

convinced that we can hear a fresh word

from God for ourselves then at best

we’ll be handicapped in our faith

because we’ll always be waiting on

somebody else to spoon feed us the word

of God instead of knowing that we can

have confidence in our friendship in our

relationship with God that person who

you admire rightfully so there are

people that I admire their faith their

stability their strength their peace in

the midst of the storm there are people

I admire their prayer life I admire how

they um are Concrete in their faith and

their beliefs no matter what happens in

culture there are people I admire their

Ministry I admire the fervency in which

I see the presence of God operating in

their life so yeah there are folks that

we can admire but just as quickly as we

admire them we have to be careful and

guard ourselves against thinking that

what they have access to is not also

something that we have access to the

same holy spirit of God that lives in

that person you admire is the same

presence and power of God that lives on

the inside of you to guide you into all

truth to alum in the scriptures so that

you too can hear the voice of God and so

I want to encourage you to not wait

until Sunday morning for a word from God

I want to encourage you to not wait

until the next time your Bible study

group can get together again in person

before you engage in hearing the voice

of God for yourself from the scriptures

I want to encourage you to not depend

upon someone else to spoon feed you

God’s truth I want to remind you that

you can hear God and we need to have a

daily relationship with God through his

word your stability is counting on it

your peace my peace of mind particularly

in the craziness and Chaos of the

culture that we’re living in right now

if we don’t have a relationship with God

where we are prioritizing coming to him

in his word then we will find find that

we are not stable we don’t have peace of

mind we don’t have Clarity Revelation

Direction insight and encouragement to

keep on putting one foot in front of the

other and not be discouraged by what we

see happening around us so I want to

encourage you to have a relationship

with God through his word I want to

share with you what I call the five PS

of Bible study like the letter P so you

know if you like to take notes I want

you to get the notes out app on your

phone or get a pen or a pencil so I want

you to write these five P’s down these

P’s have changed the way that I relate

to God through his word and I say the

word relate specifically because it’s

not just about reading a book y’all this

this just ain’t no book it’s not just a

regular um book filled with pages and

papers and bound by leather it’s so much

more than that this book is alive the

holy spirit makes it so that he shines a

spot Spotlight in the place where we

most need to be fed where we need

guidance and Direction so that God’s

present word leaps up off the page and

gives us exactly what we need for the

circumstances that we are facing right

now don’t no regular book do that this

book is alive and so as we engage in it

we can relate to God through it because

he speaks to us through his word so

these five PS have transformed my Rel

relationship with the Bible and with

with God himself and I want to share

them with you because what this means is

that after today on a regular

Monday regular Tuesday on a regular old

Wednesday or Thursday or Friday or

Saturday you’re not sitting around

twiddling your thumbs waiting until the

next time a pastor preaches to you or a

spiritual Mentor um helps to uh give you

opportunity to rightly divide the word

of Truth you thank God for those

Shepherds but you’re not twiddling your

thumb waiting on them you know that you

can have the privilege to go to God in

his word and hear him for yourself the

first P of Bible study is to position

yourself to hear from God real simple in

fact all five PS are position yourself

to hear from God I’m going to say it

again position

yourself to hear from God there is power

in in your positioning in your

posture okay I mean this in a spiritual

sense but I also mean it in a physical

sense I want to tell you about both when

you come to God through his word that

you’re going to meet with him through

the pages of scripture so this is your

own personal quiet time you know you

maybe have just sat up in bed and you’re

going to have 10 or 15 minutes that

you’re spending with the Lord or you’re

going to come out of your room into the

kitchen table maybe in the quietness of

the morning or in the quietness of the

evening when all the activity in your

house has died down just a a little bit

you’re going to position yourself over a

portion of scripture and I’ll tell you

in just a few moments how you can choose

a portion of scripture to dive into but

when you make that commitment to posture

yourself to position yourself I mean

that in a spiritual way meaning the

position of your heart has to be uh in a

perspective and a frame of reference

that is eager to hear and expects to

hear the voice of God speaking to you

it’s aw toer a great Theologian that put

it this way the person that does not

expect to hear God

won’t because every single time God

speaks they’ll just discount it as their

own idea they’ll think that it was just

a coincidence they will attribute it to

anything and anybody else except what it

is God’s breathed word coming to life

through the power of the Holy Spirit to

speak to you to give you guidance and

direction in your own personal life and

so you have to have a heart I have to

have a heart that is filled with

expectation that I am one of the sheep

of God’s fold and I can hear the voice

of God John chapter 10 Jesus said my

sheep hear my voice listen to that again

he basically says the default position

for anybody who’s a part of the fold the

flock the family of God what my sheep do

is hear my voice it’s one of the schemes

of the enemy to get you to think that

you need to be something more be

something else have a different

perspective or a different personality

or be someone other than you are to have

excelled in some way to not have made

the mistakes that you’ve made it’s the

scheme of the enemy to get us to think

that we have to be anything other than a

son or daughter to have this right this

privilege to hear God speaking to us

through the word so we have to pray and

say Lord would you carve away anything

in my heart that is a roadblock that’s

keeping keeping me from having an

expectation that in my own regular quiet

time while I’m in my pajamas or in my

jogging suit while I’m in my house shoes

whatever I’m doing and no matter what I

look like I have the privilege to keep

company with you that you want to

cultivate Lord Jesus thank you a

friendship with me that you want to

speak with me that you gave me a love

letter so that I can hear your voice and

know you and know who you are thank you

Lord for that privilege and if my heart

doesn’t expect it would you begin to

mold in me a holy expectation that

desires and anticipates that I have the

privilege to hear the voice of God

posture your heart with expectation the

psalmist put it this way in Psalm 27

it’s one of my favorite verses verse 13

and 14 he says I would have

despaired unless I believed that I would

see the hand of the Lord in the land of

the living did you see that expectation

there he says I would have despaired I

would have been hopeless I would have

been down my countenance would have been

downcast man accept that I expect that

I’m going to see God I expect that I’m

going to hear God so I can wait

patiently on him because I have an

anticipation an expectation that God is

going to come through on my behalf the

prophet habach spoke to this as well if

you look at his little book that is

named after him in the Old Testament

you’ll see that the entire first chapter

of habach is habach calling out to God

mostly him calling out to God and saying

Lord how long are you going to let this

go on he’s looking around him at the

destruction that he is seeing happening

in his culture in his Nation man if that

don’t speak to us right now I don’t know

what is you and I can’t flip past all

that’s happening on our Twitter feeds

our Instagram feeds the news channels

that we’re watching and not see the

vortex of chaos that is swirling all

around around us habac knows exactly how

you feel and he calls out to God and

says how long Lord it seems like you’re

just sitting back idly letting all this

go on and so Lord I’m going to vocalize

my concerns to you my cares to you I’m

going to be authentic I’m not going to

hold back and that’s the privilege we

have in relationship with God he lets us

ask our questions voice Our concern he

knows that in our Humanity we have some

worries and some issues and some fears

and he lets us come to him him and bear

it all but after habach Bears it all

chapter 2 he says now I’m going to climb

up on the Watchtower and I’m going to

wait to see what it is that my king is

going to say to me how God is going to

respond to me do you see that he

positions himself to hear from God he

says I’m going to climb up on a

watchtower back in biblical days there

was a stronghold or a Citadel that would

sit at the front of a of a city and it

was designed so that a soldier or a

Watchman could climb up to the top of

this Watchtower position himself above

ground level circumstances in other

words he was saying there’s too much

chaos swirling around down here I’m

going to be distracted if I keep myself

positioned here so I’m going to climb up

on the Watchtower where I’m up above

ground level distractions and I’m going

to position myself here because from

this vantage point I’ll have a clear

view to the Horizon and I expect that

God is coming I have expectation that

there is someone coming who’s going to

deliver an answer for me and so because

of that expectation I’m going to

position myself in a place and in a

posture where I can hear God where I can

see his hand where I have clear view and

there’s nothing to distract me position

yourself spiritual expectation and

anticipation but not just spiritually

like habac position yourself physically

do you see that he climbed up somewhere

he went to a place where there was some

silence and some

Solitude there’s a whole lot of noise in

life isn’t it you’ve got your to-do list

and I’ve got mine we’re trying to check

the things off that we got to do on our

list when it comes to our kids and our

marriage and what we’re cooking for

dinner tonight and the demands of the

job that we have and the ministry

assignments that are before us and all

of the things that we have to do that go

into the regular rhythms of a 24-hour

day there are so many ground level

circumstances that aren’t unnecessary

they’re critical we’ve got to keep going

from day to day but there’s got to be a

moment of time where you decide I’m

going to climb up on the Watchtower and

have some space where there’s silence

and Solitude so that for just a few

moments there is nothing standing in the

way of me seeing the king who is coming

to respond to me of me hearing clearly

what it is that God has to say to me now

this can be difficult I know it cuz your

house is probably busy like mine is many

of you or you’ve got you know your phone

buzzing and ringing and beeping and all

the things that all of our devices do so

this is going to take some

intentionality on your part it’s going

to take you being proactive it’s going

to take you you know setting your alarm

to get up a little bit early or driving

into the office space whenever we go

back to office spaces and getting you

know 10 or 15 minutes before the buzz of

the office starts or when you’re in your

car deciding that at this particular

hour cuz I’m running errands all the

time then I’m going to turn off talk

radio or I’m going to turn down the

music just a little while and I’m going

to use that opportunity while I’m

sitting outside of my kids soccer

practice I’m going to use that as the 10

or 15 minutes or half hour that I’m

going to devote to having some silence

and Solitude pushing aside in my mind’s

eye all of the the demands that I have

so that I can have an opportunity to

have a clear perspective on what it is

that God wants to say to me so we

position ourselves not just spiritually

in expectation but we position ourselves

by prioritizing some space in our life

where we can actually have a clear

opportunity more clear opportunity to

hear the voice of God I want to

encourage you before we move on to the

next p of Bible study to know that this

does not mean that you have to have a

specific place in your home that you go

that is just devoted to prayer sometimes

you know we can look at people’s

Instagram feeds and man their quiet time

Looks So Perfect don’t it they’ve got

their little white couch and their

little white coffee cup and everything

is so beautiful and amazing and

immaculate it looks like the most

beautiful photo shoot you have ever seen

in your life that can be discouraging to

regular folk who have you know like

dinner dishes sitting over there from

last night that we didn’t get to or

we’ve got all the toys from all of our

toddlers sitting around it or all the

homework papers from our teenagers that

are still scattered across the kitchen

table from all the online schooling or

we got the laundry sitting over there

every single load that you know we

washed and dried but we dumped it out on

the floor hoping that somebody was going

to come fold it at some point but there

it still sits still waiting on us and we

look at the chaos of our life and we

think can I really have quiet time in

here can I really expect God to speak to

me in a space like this the answer is

yes the enemy always wants you to think

and me to think we’ve got to have

something different about our space or

different about our lives in order to

actually meet with God intimately and

personally ourselves but listen if the

bathroom is the only place where you can

find some s silence and some Solitude I

got to be honest with you and tell you

that for many years when my children

were younger I would sit on the edge of

the bathtub I would close the bathroom

door I would lock that door and I would

sit there and that’s where I would have

time with the Lord I have a friend when

her children were young she used to tell

me that she would go into her closet

like she made her actual closet her

prayer closet and she said listen I

would sit right under the blouses where

the blouses were with a flashlight

that’s the only space that I could find

to have a little silence and a little

Solitude for many of you it’s it’s in

your car I mean you’re in your car

anyway why not make that car a sanctuary

a place where you can meet with God cuz

you’re in that car anyway and you’re by

yourself there why not make that an

opportunity where you can make that

space a Sacred Space to meet with God

you’ve seen people who are doing that

you know they’re driving down the

freeway and you just see them worshiping

God and you see their hands outstretched

and you see they’re having a whole

prayer meeting a whole church service by

themselves in the car they have made

their car a place that can be a

watchtower where they can meet with God

around his

word position

yourself oh more now than ever brothers

and sisters we’re going to have to

prioritize positioning ourselves we’re

getting a word from everybody else from

the newscasters from the media from the

politicians from our friends from

opinion makers we’re getting news from

everybody else we’ve got to position

ourselves not just to hear them but

we’ve got to prioritize positioning

ourselves to hear a word from God so

once you position yourself and you’ve

got your Bible or you know you’ve got

your electronic Bible in front of you

and you’re looking at a particular

passage of scripture I want to encourage

you to choose a passage not just you

know one verse here one verse there here

a verse there a verse everywh verse

verse it taking little verses out of

context like that can be incredibly

dangerous but what you can do is take a

whole book of the Bible start at verse

one and go all the way through took me

about two years to go through the Book

of John like this I would take one verse

or two verses a day and I would make

sure that I read right through so as to

not take anything out of the context not

only of the chapter that it’s in but the

book that it is in because the story

that God is telling um is linear meaning

not only is every word and every verse

God breathed but the way it is located

in the scriptures is also God breathed

so take a whole book of the Bible Maybe

that stood out to you recently that your

pastor preached from and it was from the

book of Ephesians or the Book of John or

the book of habc and just decide you’re

going to start right at the beginning

and the second P actually has two PS in

it I want you to pour over the passage

and paraphrase the major principles pour

over the passage and paraphrase the

major principles when I say poor over

the passage I mean that real

specifically I mean that as in

opposition to scan the passage when I

say poor I mean to meditate on it to

read it not just once but to read it

twice to read it in two or three

different translations so that you can

see different nuances of words that

maybe need to stand out to you in a

different way I mean that you open up

opportunity for you to have space and

time to think through what it would be

like if you were the woman that was

caught in adultery in that passage that

you just read

see how it would feel to have God speak

over you Jesus say to you go and sin no

more it means you mul over it for just a

little while now what this means at

least what it means for me is that if

I’m really going to pour over a passage

not just scan it but meditate on it and

think about it and wait for the Lord to

speak to me through it that means that I

can’t do that with a chapter or two at a

time it means I can’t be more interested

in quantity than I am with just quality

time with God remember it’s not about

finishing this is about you having a

friendship with God so that you can be

sustained and encouraged and sense the

presence of God in a practical way not

in theory but no a friendship with God

where you feel and know that he is

speaking to you through his word so most

of the time that means one verse or two

verses and I read those two verses and

then I read them again

and then I might underline whatever

words seem to LEAP up off the page then

I might look those words up and I might

think through the scenario that is

surrounding them the context around them

for example in Joshua chapter 1 when

Moses has just died and the children of

Israel are now being led by Joshua into

the promised land God says to Joshua

over and over again be strong and

courageous he says be strong and

courageous be strong and courageous and

then then he says be careful not to let

the word leave your mouth but keep it

close to your heart and close to your

mind and meditate on it day and night

meditate means to ponder it meditate

actually means to press your mind upon

it to think through it to evaluate it do

whatever you have to do to spend a

little time not just saying well I read

a verse a day and you know a verse a day

keeps the devil away mm- this ain’t a

checklist

this is you developing a friendship with

God who is longing to speak to you once

I pour over a passage a verse or two

then I’ll paraphrase the major

principles I usually just have a

notebook that’s sitting nearby or I’ve

got the notes app on my phone or what

however you want to do it and I just for

each verse write down a sentence or two

that paraphrases exactly what that verse

said now I want you to resist the urge

to try to be deep or to try to make it

Rhyme or sound clever you’re not trying

to be clever you are literally just

taking the words right out of the verse

and writing down a paraphrase of what

that verse says usually when I get to

this point in the five PS I will close

my Bible and I’ll put it aside and now

I’m just sitting and I’m looking at the

paraphrased rendition of what the verse

actually says that takes me to the third

P pull out the spiritual

principles this is where I prayerfully

look at those

paraphrases and I look to see what

spiritual principles are hidden in the

paraphrase I ask God to show me is there

something he’s revealing about his

character is there a promise here that

I’m supposed to heed is there a

directive I’m supposed to follow is

there Insight that I’m supposed to

uncover what is it that the verse says

that’s the paraphrase but now I’m asking

what does this verse mean

mean you will often find that there are

spiritual principles that are hidden you

would not have uncovered this is the way

God begins to speak you won’t uncover it

until you ask yourself what does this

mean is there a direction that I’m being

given is there something about God’s

character that I’m supposed to believe

and that I’m supposed to trust in

prayerfully pray and ask the holy spirit

this is what the old preachers used to

call illumin the word ask the Holy

Spirit to illumin it and you will find

that there is spiritual principles

tucked there that begin to direct you

now I want to tell you really quickly

here on this third p i want you to be

encouraged to know that every single

time I sit down to have my quiet time

which by the way as much as I want it to

happen every single day sometimes it

doesn’t cuz you know life happens but

every time I do sit down I want you to

know that each time it doesn’t mean that

I just find um God’s word spoken over my

life just leaping up off the page every

single time and it feels vibrant and

fresh and on fire every time no

sometimes I’m reading along and it’s

about the jebusites who were fighting

the hebus sites and the amorites and the

Canaanites and the other IES ate those

IES and it just seems like a waste of

time what in the world does this have to

do with my personal life right now the

crisis that I’m facing or God what you

want me to do with what I’m dealing with

my child or my financial situation or my

health or the grief or the longing in my

heart what does this have to do with

that

but I find that even Those portions of

scripture are vital to us because if

nothing else you’re still going to ask

yourself what does this teach me about

the character of God what did he do what

did he not do what did he say what did

he not say what did he allow what did he

not allow it shows you who your God is

and getting to know his character is

what this is all about

a friendship develops intimacy develops

the more we know think about your

regular friends the more you know that

person the more you know the nuances of

who they are and how they think and what

they say and what they wouldn’t say then

remember in John chapter 10 when Jesus

said the Sheep know my voice he says

they do not respond to the voice of a

stranger the only way to be able to

detect the voice of a stranger is if you

know God well enough that when the enemy

chooses to speak fear over your life or

when your ego tries to get a word in

edgewise or when your pride is trying to

sneak in there or when the opinions of

the culture in the world Sound True the

only way you’re going to know if it

ain’t God is if you’ve come to know his

character so well that you can detect

the voice of a stranger a mile away you

know my God would never say or do that

my brother Anthony um is named after my

dad so I got Anthony senior and Anthony

Jr and they walk alike they talk alike

uh there’s so much alike about the two

anthonies and I’ve seen my brother use

this to his advantage and kind of fool

people I remember when we were growing

up people would call the house and so

he’d answer the phone people thought

they were talking to Pastor Evans and so

they’d give him the whole story of

whatever they were calling for he’d get

all the juicy details before saying dad

somebody’s on the phone for you I

remember one time he went up to the

ticket counter at American Airlines so

that he could get his ticket to get on

the airplane and he saidwell my name is

Anthony T Evans and he showed the

license it said that he was Anthony

Evans so they pulled up my father’s

profile and my father had executive

Platinum Status because he flies so much

so immediately they upgraded Anthony

gave him first class treatment put him

in first class let him eat the meal that

first class gets he got all of that

because he was able to confuse people

because they are so similar to each

other but let me tell you who he can’t

confuse me and other members of the the

family if the phone rings in the first

two minutes of the conversation or two

seconds rather of the conversation I’m

having with either Anthony I can tell

you exactly which Anthony I’m talking to

because no matter how similar they sound

I have known them for so many years and

been a part of their life and them a

part of my life in so many specific ways

that they cannot confuse me because I

know the two anthonies do you see the

more you know God the more clearly and

easily you’re going to be able to put a

finger on the voice of the enemy when he

comes by trying to play you for the fool

so you pull out the spiritual principles

Once you pull out the spiritual

principles here’s the fourth P pose the

question okay this is where you turn the

spiritual principle you just pulled out

you turn it into the form of a

personally directed question man this is

where the rubber meets the road this is

when the Holy Spirit starts speaking

because you say to yourself am I living

in a way that’s congruent with that

spiritual principle that I just wrote

down am I heeding that promise am I

behaving in that way is my attitude

adjusted to that have i forgiven that

person have I been committed in my tithe

have I submitted to that

Authority maybe that verse said that I

need to be still and see the salvation

of the Lord have I been still or have I

frantically been trying to figure out

everything on my own own Lord what is it

that you’re asking me to do ask yourself

a personally directed question and when

you start asking honest and authentic

questions of the text you will find that

the Holy Spirit starts giving you the

answers he starts shining a spotlight on

the areas of your life and mind that I

didn’t even know existed that I need to

get right with God that I need to line

up so that I am in line for the favor

and Promises of God to be experienced in

my life so that I have fresh revelation

of God’s truth truth so that I can see

clearly where in the culture or in the

opinion of my friends actually that is

antithetical to what it is that God is

saying uh in his word and listen there

are two answers to every question God’s

answer and everybody else’s and

everybody else is wrong when they are in

contradiction to what it is that God has

said so as the Holy Spirit starts

answering in your spiral notebook you

write down what it is that he’s been

saying in your notes write down the

parts of your life that are coming to

life like the psalm psalmist said search

me oh God and know me find out if

there’s any way in me that ain’t like

you so that I can get back to being in

right relationship with you and having

the opportunity Lord to experience

everything you have for me and after you

pose the

question plan

obedience and pin down a date to

obey now the reason why that’s critical

is because we seem to plan for

everything else

except obeying God we got a plan for our

physical health we’ve enlisted a trainer

we’ve got our meals planned out for the

week we’ve got a membership at a gym we

plan for our financial security we got a

financial adviser to make sure that we

can retire at the age that we want to so

that we can save the way we want to

we’ve planned um for the project that’s

due at our job to make sure that we are

working incrementally and Progressive ly

to make sure that the segments of the

project are each done well we plan for

everything except honoring

God as God makes clear to you what he’s

asking you to do forgive that person or

write that blog post that was on your

heart to write or move forward and

starting that business or stepping out

in faith from the place that you’ve been

employed whatever it is God’s asked you

to do make a

plan I mean on

paper be obedient to God intentionally

and deliberately and then enlist

accountability so that you can have some

people around you this is what church

and family the family of God is all

about put some people around you who

will challenge you and ask you and get

all up in your business and say did you

do what God has asked you to do make a

plan to be obedient to

God in closing let me just tell you that

um I was traveling you know back when we

TR Tred and I was packing some jewelry

and I remember trying to put this

jewelry together and I put it in my uh

carry-on case then when I got to where I

was going I pulled it all out and it was

all tangled every little string or a

little chain was Tangled together man I

was just jingling and around trying to

get it all separated my husband said as

he watched me in frustration trying to

get just this one necklace out he said

Priscilla I think if you stop massaging

the whole wad of Tangled mess

and you just grab on to one unhook that

one and then just start working to get

that one out of there I think it’ll be

more successful he was right I grabbed

on the one little necklace and I just

worked on getting that one Unwound and

you know what happened when I not only

worked on that one did I get it out but

the whole Tangled mess started to loosen

up because it actually wasn’t about

taking care of everything all I needed

to do was focus on the one thing and the

one thing took care of everything

else brother

sister Focus once again on the one thing

I know you’ve got a tangled mess all

around you in your family and in the

culture and in your marriage with your

children and on your job and in your

finances and your health and your aging

parents or whatever it is that you’ve

got going on I know it’s a whole big

Tangled mess but if you will just get

back to the one thing you’ll find that

focusing on that one thing un Tangles

everything Lord Jesus I thank you for

your word and I thank you that you

desire to speak to us through it Lord I

pray for fresh wind and fresh fire over

your people in Jesus name

amen