there is no area of your life that God has lost [Music] control in this video we're going to talk about the discipline of being still God has really been putting it heavy on my heart of the need and the urgency for us to stop being so busy and moving around and restless and really be still in his presence there are things that he wants to share with you there is Clarity that he's trying to reveal there secret things that can only be revealed in a place of Stillness and in this world we are so consumed
with taking every moment where we feel bored stressed anxious and filling it with something and what happens is when we begin to fill our hands with all of these things this constant need to know what's going on this constant need to be entertained we miss these moments where God is trying to release something to us in a previous video I was was talking about how to break free from social media addiction because that's the first thing that we usually think about when it comes to not being able to be still but we don't even realize
that it's not just social media it's all of the media that we consume it's this obsession with the need to be entertained think about what you do when you're waiting in line at a grocery store if the line is taking too long the first thing that you do is pull out your phone you may start scrolling you may start texting you'll start finding anything that you can do to alleviate yourself of that moment of having nothing to do you'll even read a magazine even if you don't usually do that why do we do that it's
because we are obsessed with the need to be entertained and it's having dangerous effects on our prayer life to the point where we come into prayer and we don't even have the capacity to pray for longer than 5 10 minutes and really dwell and listen to what the Lord is saying I remember some years ago I was really struggling in this same area of being still and I remember I was on a Prayer call and the girl shared a Vision that she had of somebody who was in prayer on their face and they had poured
out all the things that they wanted to say to the Lord and the moment the Lord was about to speak the girl got up and left the room and for me I felt like that Vision was specifically for me because I had been so consumed was just pouring out my heart to God but never being still enough to listen to what he had to say and so that led me to being very frustrated because I felt like I was still in this place of confusion I was still lacking Direction and Clarity and of course I
was lacking those things because I was not sitting still long enough for God to respond to me so if you're listening to this video you're probably in the same place where you have trouble being still you get very distracted in prayer you get very distracted every time you go to pick up your Bible you start thinking about all the things that you have to do you start fiddling around maybe you get a little restless and even the thought of not having anything to do just makes you feel like frustrated or anxious that is a place
that God wants to provide relief from as you're listening to this I don't want you to sit in a place of Shame and frustration right because sometimes when the Lord brings to our mind certain areas that we need to grow in the first thing that we do is we put all the shame on ourselves and we just add to the list of the reasons why we feel unqualified to be a daughter or to be loved but this is not the video where you're going to do that this is an invitation that God is presenting to
you to pull you closer into his presence it's an opportunity to partner with the Lord so that he can show you how to receive from him how to receive his love how to receive Direction how to dwell deeper into his presence this is a call to intimacy not a call to shame we spend enough time beating ourselves up but we serve a God that knows our areas of weakness in fact he said in his word that in our weakness his power is made great so don't try to beat yourself up about why you're so restless
and why you can't sit still and simply accept the invitation that the Lord is giving you today he will teach you all things in Psalm 46:10 it says to be still and know that I am God we have heard this scripture a lot but I really want to take a second to break down exactly what that means and in order to do that I'm going to First share another translation of this scripture that has been so crucial in my understanding of what it really means to be still so another translation says surrender your anxiety be
silent and stop your striving and you will see that I am God when you're experiencing anxiousness and overwhelm it affects your ability to see properly this is why a lot of times when we struggle with being still again we're dealing with things like restlessness anxiousness stress overwhelm and we can't see God in the proper way so we tend to forget him and try to take things on on our own plate we try to take responsibility for the situation we try to work things out for our good instead of allowing our creator to work all things
out so the first step of being still is first acknowledging your father acknowledging that he is Jehovah Shalom the Lord of Peace acknowledging that he is Sovereign right that word sovereign means in control of everything this is something that I've really been studying because there are certain areas in my life where I'm waiting for breakthrough I'm waiting to see what's going to happen next and sometimes I get a little frustrated and I start trying to take things into my own hands but remembering that God is Sovereign means that he's Sovereign over the details he's Sovereign
over the timing which means that I can trust him even when I can't trace him to know God means to know him by experience when you are struggling to be still and rest in the Lord you have to remember your history with him see we often talk about having a lack of faith in the frustration of those things right but we don't realize that faith is a gift from God so the areas where we even struggle with our faith our experiences have been sh shaping us to the point where our faith will grow where our
character will grow where our trust and dependence on God will grow so even in those places like I said where you struggle with your faith and that is causing you to be restless instead of being still God will still partner with you in those areas and he will help you to know him by experience this is why it's so important to first remember who he is remember that he is God of all everything was created by Him for him there is no area of your life that God has lost control hear me again there is
no area in your life where God has lost control he is all knowing he is everywhere at the same time and he is Sovereign Psalm 37 and 23 says that the Lord directs the steps of The Godly he Delights in every detail of their lives did you hear that he Delights in every detail everything that you're anxious about everything that you're worried about everything that causes you to rush out of his presence so you can get started on your day he Delights in the details he knows what's going to happen in your life before you
even do and so that's why it's such a beautiful invitation when he says to be still and know be still and remember who I am says the Lord and that's why worship is so important a part of being still in know is also a posture of worship because worship helps you to take your eyes off of your situation and put it back on your creator when we feel so anxious and discouraged and overwhelmed sometimes we put worship on the back burner and we begin to meditate on our situation instead of on our savior but when
you put yourself in a place of worship that is the best way to be still and know that he is God you're saying that in my weakness in the areas where I'm frustrated in the areas where I just don't know what's going on in the areas where I feel like I have to do things on my own because other people have disappointed me and God I'm not sure if you're really going to work this thing out for me so I'm trying my best to save myself in that very place we should be worshiping we should
be reminded of who God is and what he's already done to be still means to relax to Let It Drop to literally let the weight fall off of your shoulders and that happens in a place of worship that word be still even means to weaken which was such a surprise to me because the last thing that we want to do is be weak but if we are never weak then how are we able to see the strength of God we are not supposed to be strong we are supposed to be 100% dependent on our Shepherd
on our Lord that is why we battle sometimes because we feel like it's our responsibility to work things out for our good but it's not God works those things out so right now in this moment you need to relax you need to be still you need to go into the presence of God pour your heart out and rest don't get up so quickly I know you have things to do you've got a long to do list but you're always going to have that you're always going to have a to-do list there's always going to be
new tasks but God knows those things that he wants to prepare you and equip you for your day for your future for the present moment so don't be so in a rush don't allow the discouragement and the anxiousness of life to rush you out of God's presence you need his presence you need to meditate on his goodness and you don't need to be in a rush there is nothing more important than dwelling in the presence of God there is no to-do item that is bigger than him there is no scheduled conflict that could outweigh the
benefits and the beauty of dwelling in the presence of God so how exactly do we do this how do we be still and remind ourselves that God is God the first thing is you have to practice the discipline of Stillness okay in a world where again we are restless and always moving around Stillness does not come naturally so it has to be practiced and develop like any other discipline so something that has been helpful for me is I will set alarms for one minute 2 minutes 3 minutes and just practice being still no phone no
distractions no music just being still and as I begin to do that I begin to build up a tolerance for being still and it actually helped me to press deeper into the presence of God if you really find this difficult try to keep a journal next to you and write down anytime you have a thought that's trying to interrupt this moment of you being still another thing that you can do is you can practice taking silent car rides this is a little bit easier because you have still some of the movement around as you drive
but don't listen to any music no podcast no phone conversations nothing just ride in silence and what you're doing is you're training your mind to be comfortable when there's no other stimulation this is really going to improve your relationship with God because again a lot of the things that he wanted to tell you you have to be in a position where you are still so that you can hear and don't neglect prayer right God wants to help you in the areas where you are weak so if you struggle with being still if you struggle with
being distracted ask the Lord Lord please help me I'm trying but it feels like my mind is all over the place father but you said that you would give me a sound mind so declare a sound mind over yourself declare peace one of the definitions of peace is peace from War which means also peace from mental War so if it feels like you're being attacked every time you sit down with god with you know worry and stress and anxiousness or whatever it is then you have to claim the peace of God over your mind God
will not leave you struggling he will not leave you battling he is here literally to equip you with everything that you feel like you lack he is more than enough to deal with the places that you feel like you're struggling or inadequate we don't serve a God who just says oh you can't be still fine I'm not talking to you no he invites you into his presence he says draw near to me and I will draw near to you quiet your mind let the Holy Spirit teach you the discipline of Stillness and I promise you
you will be amazed with just the intimacy that you will experience with God the weights that will roll off of your shoulders when you realize that you can cast your cares to him because he cares for you so I hope this has been helpful again I just want to pray for any of you who have been really struggling with Stillness father I pray right now Lord God you know your son and your daughter that's listening to this video god father I pray that you would give them a desire to be still Lord you said that
you would even give us self-control as a fruit of the spirit guys so in the areas where we want to just always be entertained and always doing things or in from place to place father I pray that you would give us control to sit still Lord God when our mind wants to go to the right father help us to rest and fix our eyes on you father we rebuke spirits of anxiety overwhelming stress father restlessness God and we just pray the peace of God the peace that surpasses all understanding be with us in this moment
Lord father the next time that we go into your presence God may we find joy in just the silence may we not get frustrated father and try to R you to speak God but may we just be patient even patience is the fruit of the spirit God so we are not on our own to produce that God let your Holy Spirit work in US father so that we can grow deeper in relationship with you god father we pray that as we do this father that Clarity would come forth answered prayers would come forth God peace
and breakthrough and joy and all the things that we need relief God we pray that relief would be restored to your people as they are still and remember that you are God we thank you for these prayers God in Jesus name we pray amen now I just want to end this video by saying that we are actually in the practice of practicing Stillness and managing our thoughts in the freecast your cares journaling challenge happening in the doers Community from July 1st through the 15th so if you would like to join this challenge I will leave
all the information in the description box below I love you guys so much and I'll talk to you on the next video [Music] [Music]
