WEBVTT 00:01.516 --> 00:04.876 Welcome to the Valley Baptist Church sermon podcast. 00:04.876 --> 00:08.316 We're so glad you're here and we hope this message inspires you, 00:08.316 --> 00:12.476 builds your faith, and moves you toward a deep relationship with God. 00:12.476 --> 00:15.516 Today, you'll find great insight into the Bible 00:15.516 --> 00:18.236 and learn how you can apply it straight to your life. 00:18.236 --> 00:20.756 So welcome and enjoy the message. 00:21.462 --> 00:26.462 If you have your Bibles, open them to 1 Thessalonians chapter 3. 00:27.202 --> 00:33.362 We're going to continue our verse-by-verse study of the book of 1 Thessalonians. 00:34.321 --> 00:40.221 Now, the church at Thessalonica was made up of new believers that the apostle Paul had 00:40.221 --> 00:42.621 recently led to Christ. 00:42.621 --> 00:51.261 And Paul has this deep desire and concern for them to grow up in their faith. 00:51.761 --> 00:59.261 In fact, five times in this chapter, Paul uses the phrase, your faith, because 00:59.262 --> 01:02.182 that you would be established in your faith, 01:02.262 --> 01:05.042 that you would be strengthened in your faith, 01:05.162 --> 01:07.702 that you would be encouraged in your faith, 01:07.782 --> 01:11.542 that you would mature in your faith. 01:12.262 --> 01:14.362 Now, in the Bible, there's a difference 01:14.362 --> 01:18.302 between the faith and your faith. 01:18.922 --> 01:22.162 The faith are the fundamental doctrines 01:22.162 --> 01:25.302 of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 01:25.562 --> 01:27.182 They are objective. 01:27.362 --> 01:28.982 They are fixed. 01:28.979 --> 01:32.419 But your faith is trusting God 01:32.419 --> 01:37.879 in the everyday circumstances of your life. 01:37.879 --> 01:43.419 And our faith grows when we apply the faith, 01:43.419 --> 01:46.539 what we know about God in the gospel, 01:46.539 --> 01:51.839 to our emotions and to our circumstances. 01:51.839 --> 01:55.699 Did you know that God wants you to grow up 01:55.878 --> 01:57.498 in your faith. 01:57.498 --> 02:01.558 God wants you to mature and to learn to trust Him 02:01.558 --> 02:05.238 at a deeper and deeper level. 02:05.238 --> 02:07.458 Now the problem in the American church 02:07.458 --> 02:10.498 is that we have too many babes in Christ, 02:10.498 --> 02:14.498 too many kids in Christ, too many teenagers in Christ, 02:14.498 --> 02:18.138 and not enough grownups in Christ. 02:18.138 --> 02:20.098 And so in love this morning, 02:20.098 --> 02:23.258 I wanna challenge you to grow up 02:24.110 --> 02:27.430 Now, not to beat us up, but to build us up. 02:27.550 --> 02:32.670 Not to call us out, but to call us up. 02:33.450 --> 02:39.430 You see, by God's grace, you can be so much more than you are. 02:40.490 --> 02:41.670 And so can I. 02:42.723 --> 02:47.663 We want to grow in our relationship with Christ. 02:47.783 --> 02:50.323 We want to grow in our faith. 02:50.503 --> 02:52.163 And I think all of us want that. 02:52.423 --> 02:54.903 Remember, the disciples asked Jesus, 02:55.103 --> 02:58.383 "'Jesus, increase our faith.'" 02:58.585 --> 03:03.585 We all want a deeper and stronger and more robust faith, 03:03.665 --> 03:05.065 but how do we do it? 03:05.065 --> 03:08.285 Well, Paul gives us four ways 03:08.285 --> 03:12.465 that you can grow your faith in this chapter. 03:12.465 --> 03:15.105 Let's begin reading in verse number one. 03:16.005 --> 03:17.345 He says, therefore, 03:17.840 --> 03:20.340 when we could no longer endure it, 03:20.760 --> 03:23.120 we thought it good to be left in Athens alone 03:23.120 --> 03:27.540 and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, 03:27.980 --> 03:31.180 and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ 03:31.180 --> 03:37.420 to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith. 03:37.533 --> 03:43.633 Now, the Thessalonican church was experiencing persecution. 03:44.213 --> 03:49.573 In fact, Paul had to flee Thessalonica because of the persecution that broke out there. 03:49.713 --> 03:59.853 And so Paul was concerned that these new believers would begin to doubt the goodness of God because of the suffering that they were facing. 03:59.853 --> 04:07.373 And so he sends Timothy to strengthen them and encourage them to trust in God. 04:07.368 --> 04:11.248 the Lord. Here's the first way you can grow in your faith. 04:11.248 --> 04:15.608 Get relationally connected to mature 04:15.608 --> 04:19.748 Christians. See, Paul says, I'm sending 04:19.748 --> 04:24.868 Timothy to you, who's a mature believer, so that he can 04:24.868 --> 04:28.328 strengthen and encourage you in your faith. And 04:28.328 --> 04:32.068 to grow in our faith, we need to be connected to God 04:32.562 --> 04:38.502 But we also need to be connected to others who love God and love us. 04:39.402 --> 04:41.462 He calls Timothy a brother. 04:42.802 --> 04:46.982 God has given us a spiritual family to love us. 04:46.982 --> 04:54.102 And that love enhances and strengthens our relationship with God. 04:54.462 --> 04:59.622 We all need to love and we all need to be loved. 05:01.418 --> 05:05.598 Clara Noll, mother from Oklahoma City, wrote this, 05:05.598 --> 05:08.498 It was one of the worst days of my life. 05:08.498 --> 05:11.838 The washing machine broke down, the telephone kept ringing, 05:11.838 --> 05:16.438 I had a headache, and then the mailman brought a bill I had no money to pay. 05:16.438 --> 05:21.898 Almost at a breaking point, I lifted my one-year-old into his high chair, 05:21.898 --> 05:25.518 leaned my head against the tray, and began to cry. 05:26.410 --> 05:30.790 Without a word, my son took his pacifier out of his mouth 05:30.790 --> 05:32.250 and stuck it in mine. 05:37.390 --> 05:42.230 You know, from the time we are born, even at one year old, 05:42.230 --> 05:44.710 we know people need to be loved. 05:45.563 --> 05:50.323 And we also know that we need to be loved and to be cared for. 05:51.063 --> 06:00.483 And so by God's grace, let's make this church the warmest incubator of the love of Christ that we possibly can. 06:00.483 --> 06:01.307 Amen. 06:01.308 --> 06:05.608 so that babies in Christ can grow to maturity 06:05.608 --> 06:09.448 in an atmosphere of brotherly love. 06:09.448 --> 06:12.748 God didn't just save us and leave us alone. 06:12.748 --> 06:16.748 He caused us to be born into a spiritual family 06:16.748 --> 06:20.268 with mature believers who can love us. 06:20.343 --> 06:24.663 He also says Timothy is a minister of God. 06:24.663 --> 06:28.963 God has given us a community to support us. 06:28.963 --> 06:32.663 Now when we get connected to a life group 06:32.663 --> 06:36.803 and we begin to live out our relationship with Christ 06:36.803 --> 06:39.363 in fellowship with one another, 06:39.363 --> 06:42.683 what we are saying is I want to be connected to people 06:42.683 --> 06:44.703 who love the right things 06:44.703 --> 06:47.723 and help me to love the right things as well. 06:48.625 --> 06:52.265 God is not only building us up individually, 06:52.265 --> 06:54.405 but he's building us up together 06:54.405 --> 06:57.745 so that we as a church can spread the gospel 06:57.745 --> 07:00.965 to our city and beyond. 07:00.965 --> 07:04.405 He says, Timothy is a brother, he's a minister, 07:04.405 --> 07:07.485 but then he says he's a fellow laborer in the gospel. 07:07.485 --> 07:09.765 God has not only given us a family to love us, 07:09.765 --> 07:11.625 a community to support us, 07:11.625 --> 07:15.885 but also a team to come alongside us. 07:16.739 --> 07:21.799 Every Christian is a minister, and every Christian is a missionary. 07:22.619 --> 07:26.019 What that means is that what God wants to do, 07:26.319 --> 07:30.239 he wants to do through everyone in this room who knows Jesus. 07:30.499 --> 07:32.359 He doesn't just want to do it through me. 07:32.799 --> 07:35.099 He doesn't just want to do it through the leaders. 07:35.439 --> 07:39.139 He wants to do it through everyone who knows Christ 07:39.139 --> 07:42.279 and has the Holy Spirit residing in them. 07:42.999 --> 07:45.579 You see, our collective mission is, 07:45.697 --> 07:50.197 is to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ in every place 07:50.197 --> 07:53.557 and to every person. 07:53.557 --> 07:59.197 Paul is pointing out that being connected to mature believers who trust 07:59.197 --> 08:01.537 God strengthens you 08:01.537 --> 08:05.017 so that you can walk away with your heart encouraged 08:05.017 --> 08:09.877 knowing that God loves you, that God is going to give you the grace and the 08:09.877 --> 08:15.577 strength that you need to face the situations that you have within your 08:15.903 --> 08:25.983 life. Notice what he says in verse number three. He says that no one should be shaken by these 08:25.983 --> 08:30.583 afflictions. For you yourself know that we are appointed to this. 08:31.192 --> 08:39.052 For in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation just as it is happening, and you know. 08:39.752 --> 08:44.612 For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith, 08:44.612 --> 08:52.472 lest by some means the tempter had tempted you and our labor might be in vain. 08:53.720 --> 08:58.020 The Apostle Paul was concerned that they would be shaken, 08:58.020 --> 08:59.960 they would be unsettled. 08:59.960 --> 09:03.020 And Paul says, you shouldn't be shook by suffering, 09:03.020 --> 09:04.260 it's to be expected. 09:04.260 --> 09:08.340 You know, we are not exempt from difficulties. 09:08.340 --> 09:12.260 The Apostle Paul was sick, the Lord Jesus was poor. 09:12.260 --> 09:16.020 Suffering is to be expected. 09:16.020 --> 09:19.340 Now of all people, Christians should not be surprised 09:19.340 --> 09:22.300 by suffering because we know that evil exists. 09:22.913 --> 09:26.153 We know that we live in a broken world, and we know why. 09:26.513 --> 09:29.533 And so suffering does not contradict the Bible. 09:30.013 --> 09:32.993 Suffering confirms the Bible. 09:33.913 --> 09:40.073 Now, the Bible teaches two truths that you and I need to remember in times of suffering. 09:40.833 --> 09:45.573 The first is that life is hard, and boy, is that true. 09:45.993 --> 09:51.793 But the second is that God is good, and boy, is that true as well. 09:52.613 --> 10:00.433 I'm so glad that God is good and gracious and present and willing and capable in our 10:00.433 --> 10:02.473 times of suffering. 10:02.473 --> 10:07.613 And so don't be surprised when you suffer within your life. 10:07.613 --> 10:14.413 You can't avoid suffering, but you can prepare for it and you can be strengthened by it. 10:14.413 --> 10:17.933 And so here's the second way to grow your faith. 10:18.955 --> 10:23.315 Allow suffering to transfer your trust from yourself 10:23.315 --> 10:26.855 and your circumstances to God. 10:28.235 --> 10:32.255 The apostle Paul says, you knew this was going to come. 10:32.255 --> 10:33.735 You've been appointed to this. 10:33.735 --> 10:36.715 You see suffering is not an accident, it's an appointment. 10:38.294 --> 10:41.874 It's not that God causes all of our suffering, 10:41.874 --> 10:44.974 but it is that God uses all of our suffering. 10:44.974 --> 10:47.214 Suffering is a part of God's plan 10:47.214 --> 10:49.814 and God's purpose to grow your faith. 10:50.634 --> 10:53.974 And everything that happens to you 10:53.974 --> 10:56.234 has been Father-filtered, 10:56.234 --> 10:59.474 and he has allowed it to purify you 10:59.474 --> 11:03.774 and to grow you, not to punish you. 11:04.714 --> 11:06.134 Now, if you and I, 11:07.150 --> 11:08.950 had never suffered, 11:08.950 --> 11:12.610 we would probably be pretty terrible people, wouldn't we? 11:12.610 --> 11:15.650 I mean, imagine if God answered every prayer you pray, 11:15.650 --> 11:19.590 yes, how horrible that would make us, 11:19.590 --> 11:23.850 because suffering teaches us to depend on God 11:23.850 --> 11:27.330 and not upon ourselves or our circumstances. 11:27.330 --> 11:30.070 That's why our faith grows more in pain 11:30.070 --> 11:32.570 than it does in pleasure. 11:33.710 --> 11:36.050 Now, what is most important 11:36.428 --> 11:40.668 is how you posture your heart in suffering. 11:41.528 --> 11:43.528 Suffering reveals our heart. 11:43.528 --> 11:44.928 God already knows our heart, 11:44.928 --> 11:47.728 but sometimes he needs to show us what's in there 11:48.808 --> 11:52.988 so that we can grow in our character. 11:52.988 --> 11:56.348 And so the question is, do you have a hard heart 11:56.348 --> 11:58.328 or do you have a tender heart? 11:59.368 --> 12:02.868 Now, the way that we respond to our suffering 12:02.868 --> 12:05.388 can make everything worse 12:06.145 --> 12:09.625 Sometimes so much of our suffering is the way we suffer, 12:10.365 --> 12:12.325 the way we respond to our suffering. 12:12.845 --> 12:15.065 It makes it exponentially worse. 12:15.385 --> 12:19.965 But also the way we respond can also make it better. 12:20.205 --> 12:21.845 It can make everything better. 12:22.025 --> 12:24.905 Because your suffering will either make you bitter 12:24.905 --> 12:27.005 or it will make you better. 12:27.245 --> 12:28.385 But here's the good news. 12:28.545 --> 12:30.344 You can choose. 12:30.345 --> 12:34.905 You can choose how you want to respond to 12:35.238 --> 12:40.538 to suffering. Now, one of the worst things that you can do while suffering 12:40.538 --> 12:48.638 is to compare yourself to other people and play the victim card. I mean, don't we like to do that? 12:49.598 --> 12:52.518 Guess what? Nobody wins in that game. 12:52.518 --> 12:56.718 Everyone loses, but especially you. 12:56.718 --> 12:58.778 That will not make you better, 12:58.778 --> 13:02.078 but it will certainly make you bitter. 13:02.078 --> 13:07.078 And so the question is not why am I suffering? 13:08.418 --> 13:11.658 I remember when my dad was dying of cancer, 13:11.658 --> 13:12.517 I said to him, I said, 13:12.518 --> 13:15.058 "'Dad, I don't know why this is happening to you.' 13:15.998 --> 13:18.058 And he looked at me and he says, "'Why not me?' 13:20.328 --> 13:22.688 He knew that suffering is a part of life. 13:22.988 --> 13:25.948 Did you know that everyone you know and love is going to die? 13:27.648 --> 13:29.128 Suffering is a part of this world. 13:29.428 --> 13:31.688 Our hope is not freedom for suffering. 13:32.028 --> 13:35.788 Our hope is in Christ who will someday deliver us from suffering. 13:35.948 --> 13:36.988 That's what our hope is. 13:37.368 --> 13:40.348 And so the question is not why am I suffering? 13:40.348 --> 13:48.528 The question is how does God want to use suffering in my life and in the life of others? 13:49.572 --> 13:52.752 Now Paul says, I wanted to hear what was going on 13:52.752 --> 13:55.892 because lest the tempter tempt you. 13:57.032 --> 14:00.892 Now the devil wants to use your suffering to destroy you. 14:01.958 --> 14:04.198 to destroy your faith. 14:04.198 --> 14:08.198 But God wants to use your suffering to develop you 14:08.198 --> 14:09.718 and to develop your faith, 14:09.718 --> 14:12.238 to teach you to depend upon him more, 14:12.238 --> 14:15.218 to teach you to seek him more, to pray more, 14:15.218 --> 14:17.958 to study his word more, to witness more, 14:17.958 --> 14:21.478 and to grow the fruit of the Spirit within your life. 14:22.518 --> 14:25.778 Notice what the apostle Paul says in verse number six. 14:27.946 --> 14:47.026 He says, 14:47.015 --> 14:50.335 For now we live if you stand fast in the Lord. 14:50.335 --> 14:53.395 For what thanks can we render to God for you, 14:53.555 --> 14:58.055 for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sake before our God, 14:58.475 --> 15:03.655 night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face 15:03.655 --> 15:07.635 and perfect what is lacking in your faith. 15:08.615 --> 15:14.875 Paul says, I was encouraged by your love and your faith in the midst of suffering. 15:15.135 --> 15:21.675 And then he says, I want to come to you so that I can help mature your faith. 15:22.575 --> 15:23.775 Now, you know what you call that? 15:23.855 --> 15:25.475 You call that discipleship. 15:26.835 --> 15:29.855 Discipleship is growing in your love and faith. 15:30.772 --> 15:34.632 and helping others grow in their love and faith. 15:35.312 --> 15:38.612 And so here's the third way that you can grow your faith. 15:39.612 --> 15:44.912 Learn from what God is doing in the life of other people. 15:46.592 --> 15:50.152 Hearing about what God is doing in other people's lives 15:50.152 --> 15:53.692 encourages us to pursue God more 15:53.692 --> 15:56.692 and to trust God more. 15:56.928 --> 16:00.508 We think, well, if God did that in their life, 16:00.588 --> 16:01.828 then he can do it in mine. 16:02.508 --> 16:05.868 Or we learn what God is teaching them within their life, 16:05.908 --> 16:08.128 and you go, boy, I need to grow in that area as well. 16:09.008 --> 16:11.008 I need to grow in humility. 16:11.228 --> 16:12.708 I need to grow in love. 16:12.848 --> 16:16.008 I need to grow in surrender to the Lord. 16:16.188 --> 16:18.088 And if God's doing it in their life, 16:18.128 --> 16:19.708 he can do it in mine as well. 16:21.048 --> 16:23.448 You know, one of the great apologetics 16:23.448 --> 16:25.328 for the Christian faith is, 16:26.240 --> 16:30.400 is people's willingness to suffer for Christ. 16:30.400 --> 16:34.240 How did we get from 12 disciples to a billion? 16:34.240 --> 16:38.100 Simple – suffering. 16:38.100 --> 16:45.340 People were willing to suffer for the sake of Christ, and other people saw that and they 16:45.340 --> 16:48.640 said, God has done something great. 16:48.802 --> 16:50.442 within their life. 16:50.442 --> 16:54.042 God is real because they are able to see it 16:54.042 --> 16:58.382 in the faith and the suffering of others. 16:59.282 --> 17:03.482 In 1 Peter, Peter tells us that you and I as believers 17:03.482 --> 17:06.542 are living stones. 17:06.542 --> 17:07.542 In the Old Testament, 17:07.542 --> 17:09.802 when God did something great somewhere, 17:09.802 --> 17:13.842 they would put a big pile of stones in that place 17:13.842 --> 17:17.362 where God did something great to remind them. 17:18.350 --> 17:23.350 And what they would say is, look, God did something great in that place. 17:23.970 --> 17:27.470 And so when Peter says that you and I are living stones, 17:27.470 --> 17:33.230 what he is saying is that we are supposed to say to other people, 17:33.670 --> 17:36.710 God did something great in my life. 17:38.161 --> 17:43.181 I am a testimony to God's glory and God's grace. 17:43.181 --> 17:48.381 And so you are to be a person where people look at your life and they said, look what 17:48.381 --> 17:52.461 great things God has done in their life. 17:52.461 --> 18:01.721 Look at the transformation and the love and the faith and the perseverance and the humility 18:01.721 --> 18:04.361 that that person has. 18:04.361 --> 18:06.841 God surely is among us. 18:07.844 --> 18:13.384 You see, our suffering is an opportunity to point others to the grace and the power of 18:13.384 --> 18:20.764 Christ, but it depends on how we respond to our suffering. 18:20.764 --> 18:23.004 We can respond in one of three ways. 18:23.004 --> 18:27.164 We can respond by exaggerating our suffering. 18:27.164 --> 18:33.084 You know, woe is me, kind of a spiritual case of the man flu. 18:33.084 --> 18:35.144 Well, that's a bad example. 18:35.144 --> 18:37.084 That's real suffering right there, you know. 18:38.725 --> 18:42.345 But we can kind of exaggerate sometimes, ladies, 18:42.805 --> 18:45.745 and we're all capable of exaggerating. 18:45.885 --> 18:48.165 I'm the only one who's ever suffered. 18:48.285 --> 18:51.265 I'm the only one who's ever gone through this. 18:52.478 --> 18:55.078 I heard about some Boy Scouts. 18:55.078 --> 18:56.478 They were up in the mountains and boy, 18:56.478 --> 18:58.538 they were getting eaten up by mosquitoes, 18:58.538 --> 19:00.078 just all over the place. 19:00.078 --> 19:01.998 And so they thought we've got to get away 19:01.998 --> 19:03.578 from these mosquitoes. 19:03.578 --> 19:06.578 And so they decided we're gonna get in our sleeping bags 19:06.578 --> 19:08.378 and we're gonna zip them up to get away. 19:08.378 --> 19:10.858 And so they all got in their sleeping bags. 19:10.858 --> 19:14.158 And about that time, some fireflies, 19:14.158 --> 19:16.698 some lightning bugs came out. 19:16.698 --> 19:19.938 And one of the boys says, boys, it's no use. 19:19.938 --> 19:22.058 Now they have flashlights. 19:24.305 --> 19:25.385 They're looking for us. 19:26.965 --> 19:29.625 We can exaggerate our suffering, can't we? 19:30.505 --> 19:32.265 We can exaggerate the situation. 19:32.445 --> 19:34.665 Instead of looking to God, we look to our circumstances. 19:35.085 --> 19:39.065 Do you remember Elijah after he called down fire from heaven? 19:39.445 --> 19:41.565 Jezebel says, I'm going to hunt you down. 19:41.605 --> 19:42.344 I'm going to kill you. 19:42.345 --> 19:43.765 And he's running for his life. 19:44.125 --> 19:46.105 And finally he says to God, just kill me. 19:46.185 --> 19:48.185 I'm the only one that's serving you. 19:49.094 --> 19:56.774 And God says, no, I have 7,000 others that love me and trust me and are following after me. 19:57.594 --> 20:00.454 Now notice, Elijah got into the comparison trap, didn't he? 20:01.194 --> 20:02.994 He was comparing himself to other people. 20:02.994 --> 20:05.034 Instead of looking to God, he looked to others. 20:06.294 --> 20:08.214 And he exaggerated the situation. 20:08.534 --> 20:11.454 And we can do that in our suffering as well. 20:11.714 --> 20:15.994 But also, we can respond in anger to our suffering, right? 20:16.381 --> 20:19.141 Remember Job's wife, she said, just curse God and die. 20:19.221 --> 20:21.180 She was angry. 20:21.181 --> 20:24.701 Now, anger becomes bitterness real quick, doesn't it? 20:25.932 --> 20:35.132 And we use our pain to push God away, and instead of allowing God to use our pain to draw us closer to Him, 20:35.292 --> 20:39.992 to transfer our trust from ourselves and our circumstances to Him. 20:41.072 --> 20:46.152 Now, the third way we can respond is we can respond by trusting the Lord. 20:46.852 --> 20:51.512 You know, Jesus said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. 20:52.578 --> 20:58.398 And so we are to take our suffering and use it to turn the spotlight on to Jesus. 20:58.398 --> 21:02.878 And the emphasis is I can't believe what God has done in my life, 21:02.998 --> 21:04.998 and I love telling others about it. 21:05.398 --> 21:13.898 I want everyone to know how gracious and good and sufficient God really is. 21:14.418 --> 21:19.598 And notice what he says in verses 10 through 13. 21:21.518 --> 21:30.018 He says, "'Night and day, praying exceedingly, that we may see your face and perfect what is lacking in your faith.'" 21:30.344 --> 21:36.344 Now may our God and Father Himself and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way to you. 21:36.344 --> 21:42.344 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and to all, 21:42.344 --> 21:51.344 just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father 21:51.344 --> 21:57.344 at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints." 21:57.344 --> 21:59.344 The Apostle Paul 22:00.128 --> 22:04.768 ends the chapter with a prayer for these new believers. 22:05.608 --> 22:08.948 You know that God uses our prayers 22:08.948 --> 22:12.588 to strengthen our faith? 22:12.588 --> 22:15.228 God uses our prayers to strengthen 22:15.228 --> 22:18.208 the faith of others as well. 22:18.208 --> 22:21.628 And so here's the fourth way to grow your faith. 22:21.628 --> 22:25.648 Ask others to pray for you. 22:26.888 --> 22:30.028 Prayer is absolutely powerful. 22:30.824 --> 22:32.824 And all of us can do it. 22:32.824 --> 22:34.924 You don't have to have money. 22:34.924 --> 22:37.124 You don't have to have talent. 22:37.124 --> 22:38.864 You don't have to have hair. 22:38.864 --> 22:40.224 You can just pray. 22:41.504 --> 22:44.044 All you have to do is have faith. 22:44.044 --> 22:45.764 That's it. 22:45.764 --> 22:48.584 And Paul says, I'm praying that God 22:48.584 --> 22:50.844 would strengthen your faith. 22:51.684 --> 22:54.024 Now Paul prays for four things. 22:54.024 --> 22:57.024 In verse 10, he prays for their maturity. 22:57.976 --> 23:00.896 He says, I want to come to you and perfect what is lacking. 23:00.896 --> 23:05.556 That word perfect is the word for maturity. 23:05.556 --> 23:08.816 He says, I want to come and pray 23:08.816 --> 23:13.536 and be a part of you maturing in your faith. 23:13.536 --> 23:17.076 We should pray for our faith 23:17.076 --> 23:21.436 and the faith of others to grow and to mature. 23:22.636 --> 23:24.476 Do you know that your faith can grow? 23:25.536 --> 23:26.976 Your faith can deepen. 23:27.878 --> 23:33.598 You can have this sense of peace that God is in control of your life, 23:33.758 --> 23:38.638 that God is working all things together for his glory and your good, 23:38.818 --> 23:40.798 and that you don't have to worry about it all. 23:40.978 --> 23:44.498 You can just surrender it all to God in faith. 23:44.798 --> 23:46.997 You can grow. 23:46.998 --> 23:51.858 And I try to pray almost every day for God to grow my faith. 23:52.651 --> 23:55.251 for God to grow the faith of each of my family members, 23:55.531 --> 23:58.931 for God to grow the faith of Valley Baptist Church. 23:59.931 --> 24:03.211 The second thing he prays for in verse 11 is he prays for direction. 24:03.931 --> 24:07.491 He says that God would direct our way to you. 24:08.511 --> 24:11.191 I want to encourage you to pray every morning, 24:12.611 --> 24:14.911 Holy Spirit, I surrender this day to you. 24:15.791 --> 24:18.151 Would you direct my day? 24:18.638 --> 24:21.878 Would you direct my heart to give me a heart after your own heart? 24:21.878 --> 24:27.998 Would you direct my mind that I would think your thoughts and that I would know your word, 24:28.118 --> 24:31.718 that it would be a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path? 24:31.938 --> 24:33.978 Would you direct my plans? 24:35.498 --> 24:38.438 Not my will, but your will be done. 24:39.277 --> 24:45.097 Would you direct and give me wisdom for every decision and every interaction that I have throughout the day? 24:45.097 --> 24:53.557 And so submit your plans and everything else to the Holy Spirit each and every morning. 24:54.377 --> 25:00.897 And then you pray for the Holy Spirit to direct the lives of other people as well. 25:01.677 --> 25:05.097 The third thing he prays for in verse 12 is love. 25:05.618 --> 25:10.858 He said that your love would increase and it would abound. 25:11.738 --> 25:18.338 You see, we should pray that our love will grow deeper and that it would expand further. 25:19.158 --> 25:24.218 That we would have a deeper love and that we would have a broader love. 25:25.058 --> 25:28.958 Now sometimes when we're suffering, we build walls, don't we? 25:30.053 --> 25:31.673 And so the Apostle Paul says, 25:31.853 --> 25:34.933 I am praying that God would develop your love 25:34.933 --> 25:39.333 in such a way that instead of building walls, 25:39.593 --> 25:42.213 that your suffering would build bridges, 25:43.013 --> 25:45.513 that you would not waste your sorrows, 25:45.513 --> 25:49.793 but that you would use your sorrows for the Lord 25:49.793 --> 25:53.513 and to be a blessing in other people's lives. 25:53.673 --> 25:56.493 I guarantee you, whatever suffering you're going through, 25:56.613 --> 25:58.053 someone else is going through as well. 25:59.264 --> 26:04.044 And I guarantee you, whatever suffering you've experienced, someone else is going to go through, 26:04.244 --> 26:10.024 and you can encourage and strengthen their faith in the midst of that suffering. 26:11.244 --> 26:14.644 The last thing that the apostle prays for is their affections. 26:14.644 --> 26:20.744 In verse 13, he says that God would establish your heart. 26:22.417 --> 26:30.417 You see, we are to have deep affections and emotions for God and for His Word. 26:32.137 --> 26:37.957 God says that you are to love God with all your mind, and I hope that you do that. 26:37.957 --> 26:43.117 But He also says you are to love God with all your heart, with your volition, with your affection. 26:43.297 --> 26:45.557 Now, our affections are that which we love. 26:46.818 --> 26:51.818 And so we are to have deep love and affection for God 26:53.398 --> 26:55.498 and for His word within our life. 26:56.818 --> 27:01.058 I remember when I got right with God as a teenager, 27:01.058 --> 27:03.578 boy, God got a hold of my heart 27:03.578 --> 27:05.358 and He did something great in my heart. 27:05.358 --> 27:08.298 He just gave me this deep desire 27:08.298 --> 27:13.018 and this insatiable hunger to know Him. 27:14.088 --> 27:16.248 I began to read my Bible every day. 27:16.248 --> 27:19.268 I began to seek God in prayer. 27:19.268 --> 27:23.588 I began to listen to about 10 or 15 hours 27:23.588 --> 27:25.268 of sermons every week. 27:26.768 --> 27:29.728 I had a little Walkman and I knew a lot of pastors 27:29.728 --> 27:32.448 with cassettes. 27:32.448 --> 27:34.608 If you don't know what that is, you're young. 27:34.608 --> 27:36.328 But we had cassettes. 27:37.308 --> 27:40.328 I put those suckers in and while I was working, 27:40.328 --> 27:44.308 I would listen to God's word all the time. 27:44.308 --> 27:46.868 I went to every worship service I could, 27:46.868 --> 27:48.768 listened to every sermon I could, 27:48.768 --> 27:50.948 every Bible study I could attend, 27:50.948 --> 27:52.808 every service opportunity. 27:52.808 --> 27:57.708 I wanted to be involved because I wanted to know God 27:57.708 --> 27:59.888 and I wanted to follow God. 28:01.628 --> 28:03.248 You know, I haven't lost that desire. 28:03.248 --> 28:04.928 I still have that desire today 28:06.383 --> 28:10.123 There are some people who say, well, that's the way new believers are. 28:10.283 --> 28:15.903 But after a while, you just lose that love and that faith that you once had for the Lord. 28:16.123 --> 28:18.363 There's a Greek word for that, hogwash. 28:20.603 --> 28:21.863 Actually, that's not a Greek word. 28:21.903 --> 28:23.283 It's nonsense, right? 28:24.683 --> 28:25.923 Here's what happens. 28:26.920 --> 28:30.680 You have this fire and love and faith 28:30.680 --> 28:33.980 and passion for the Lord 28:33.980 --> 28:37.920 as long as you keep saying yes to God. 28:37.920 --> 28:41.400 But as soon as you say no to the Lord, 28:42.360 --> 28:47.200 you stop growing because your love and your trust 28:47.200 --> 28:50.100 stop at the point you say no. 28:51.680 --> 28:54.220 God convicts you about how you treat your wife. 28:55.591 --> 28:56.911 And you say, no, God. 28:58.191 --> 29:02.771 You say, Lord, I love this sin more than I love you, 29:02.851 --> 29:07.751 and I trust my way of how I treat my wife more than your way of how you want me to treat my wife. 29:08.691 --> 29:10.051 God convicts you. 29:11.993 --> 29:13.373 of the bitterness in your heart. 29:13.473 --> 29:17.753 He convicts you to forgive someone who's deeply hurt you and wronged you. 29:17.973 --> 29:22.093 And you say, no, God, I love this bitterness more than I love you. 29:22.353 --> 29:28.833 I love this way of bitterness more than I love your way and trust your way of forgiveness. 29:30.713 --> 29:34.493 Now, there have been times in my life where that was me. 29:35.813 --> 29:37.233 And I stopped growing. 29:38.673 --> 29:43.113 And there are a whole lot of Christians that are at the same place they were six months ago, 29:43.393 --> 29:46.353 a year ago, five years ago, 20 years ago, 29:46.413 --> 29:50.673 because at some point in their life, they told God, 29:51.153 --> 29:53.873 no, when the conviction of the Holy Spirit came, 29:54.093 --> 29:57.953 they said, no, I'm going to do it my way instead of your way. 29:57.953 --> 30:02.173 I'm going to love this sin more than I love you. 30:02.453 --> 30:03.953 And so they didn't grow. 30:05.858 --> 30:15.138 And there are some Christians that have lost even the ability to recognize the moving of the Holy Spirit within their heart. 30:15.718 --> 30:19.038 Because their heart has grown hard and it's grown cold. 30:19.038 --> 30:24.938 And maybe they go through the motions and they come to church and they do all of these things on the outside. 30:25.318 --> 30:29.178 But they're not loving and trusting God on the inside. 30:32.218 --> 30:34.478 And so they just stay a babe in Christ. 30:36.082 --> 30:37.322 They don't really grow up. 30:38.722 --> 30:40.022 They're just stuck. 30:41.382 --> 30:43.042 But here's the good news. 30:44.342 --> 30:48.182 You can say yes to the Lord today. 30:48.802 --> 30:59.502 And when you do, the flood of that love and that faith and that passion and that fire can come back. 31:00.567 --> 31:05.767 The glory that has faded can return to your life to say, 31:05.767 --> 31:12.067 God, I'm going to love you and I'm going to trust you with all of my heart. 31:13.787 --> 31:17.267 And notice in this prayer, it's not about your ability. 31:18.787 --> 31:23.607 It's about your availability and it's about God's abilities. 31:25.002 --> 31:28.142 God is the one who establishes you. 31:28.142 --> 31:30.922 God is the one who directs you. 31:30.922 --> 31:35.922 God is the one who strengthens your heart. 31:36.022 --> 31:39.822 You need to be connected to God. 31:41.122 --> 31:42.622 So let me ask you this morning, 31:42.622 --> 31:47.622 would you say, Lord, today, I surrender all to you? 31:49.602 --> 31:52.182 I'm tired of holding on. 31:52.182 --> 31:54.342 I'm tired of saying no. 31:54.685 --> 31:58.585 I'm tired of doing it my way instead of your way. 31:59.265 --> 32:04.185 I'm weary with the boredom of a life 32:04.185 --> 32:07.525 that is being lived for myself and my circumstances. 32:08.185 --> 32:12.725 I want to say yes to anything and everything 32:12.725 --> 32:16.185 that you want to do in my life. 32:18.485 --> 32:20.225 Surrender it all to the Lord 32:20.225 --> 32:22.985 because it's time. 32:24.740 --> 32:31.740 to grow up. Our Heavenly Father, 32:31.980 --> 32:35.080 we thank you for your goodness 32:35.080 --> 32:40.040 and your grace. God thank you for 32:40.040 --> 32:44.500 all that you've done and all that you're 32:44.500 --> 32:50.280 wanting to do. God I pray this morning that you would grow us 32:50.280 --> 32:53.740 in our faith, that we would trust you, that we would love you, 32:54.946 --> 32:59.286 And God, as we have a time of invitation here in just a moment, 33:00.026 --> 33:02.946 God, I pray that you would draw our hearts to yourself. 33:04.446 --> 33:11.086 Lord, I pray that we would be tired of mediocrity, of stagnation. 33:11.906 --> 33:19.286 And God, that we would desire to follow you and surrender to you. 33:20.393 --> 33:24.893 God, I pray that you would help us to get connected to other believers that love you 33:24.893 --> 33:27.033 and are following you. 33:27.713 --> 33:33.453 I pray that you would help us to ask others to pray that our faith would grow strong and 33:33.453 --> 33:35.992 robust. 33:35.993 --> 33:41.753 God, I pray that we would transfer our trust from ourselves and our circumstances to you. 33:43.933 --> 33:48.173 And God, I pray that you would give us the grace and the wisdom to learn from what you're 33:48.173 --> 33:49.553 doing in other people's lives. 33:52.557 --> 33:55.077 So Lord, work in this time of invitation. 33:56.937 --> 33:58.157 Draw our hearts to you. 33:59.797 --> 34:01.637 In Christ's name we pray. 34:02.777 --> 34:04.436 Amen. 34:04.437 --> 34:05.877 Thanks for listening today. 34:05.877 --> 34:07.537 We hope you enjoyed this message. 34:07.537 --> 34:09.637 And if you did, we would be so grateful 34:09.637 --> 34:11.317 if you left us a review. 34:11.317 --> 34:13.757 Also, go ahead and subscribe to the podcast 34:13.757 --> 34:15.057 if you would like to be notified 34:15.057 --> 34:16.957 when a new sermon is released. 34:16.957 --> 34:18.597 If you feel the Lord calling you 34:18.597 --> 34:20.217 to take the next step in faith 34:20.217 --> 34:24.517 through salvation, service, or giving, don't wait. 34:24.518 --> 34:27.978 reach out to us by texting podcast to 88988. 34:27.978 --> 34:31.518 That's podcast to 88988 or connect with us 34:31.518 --> 34:33.898 on one of our social media platforms. 34:33.898 --> 34:37.038 You can also visit our website, valleybaptist.org 34:37.038 --> 34:39.618 to find even more great resources. 34:39.618 --> 34:41.818 No matter where you are in your journey, 34:41.818 --> 34:44.538 know that we love you, we're praying for you 34:44.538 --> 34:47.558 and we can't wait to see what God will do in your life.