Simple Faith With Rusty George

0:00:00 - Rusty George
As a pastor, I'm constantly concerned about how to create connections beyond just the weekend services, and one of the valuable tools that we have found for achieving this at our church is our app powered by Subsplash. It's one thing to have an app. It's another thing to have an app that has the ability to allow your community to access messages, resources and even give, and Subsplash created that for us. It's become our go-to platform for connecting with our congregation in ways we never could have before. Subsplash is so much more than just a platform or even just an app. It brings people together, empowers giving and transforms lives. If you're interested in learning more, I encourage you to visit their website at subsplash.com. That's s-u-b-s-p-l-a-s-hcom, subsplashcom.

Following Jesus isn't always easy, but it's not complicated. Join us each week as we work to make faith simple. This is Simple Faith.

Hey, welcome to Simple Faith. I'm honored to have you with us. My name is Rusty George and, if you've been tracking with us over the last couple of weeks, we have been prepping to launch our journey through The Story, and we're doing this at several different campuses and churches all across the United States. We're so excited to have everybody joining us from Texas to California and back again and I wanted to take one weekend just to talk through one chapter of The Story and just talk us through how to pray through reading The Story.

I mean, it's one thing just to read it and get it done, so you can say to the group that you're with oh, I read it. Yep, I got a couple ideas I can share. It's another thing to read it as you're drifting off to sleep, just to say you can get it done. It's another thing to even read it and take notes and make comments about it in the margins. That's wonderful. But it's another thing to incorporate prayer to it as well.

What if you developed a practice where you not only read the scriptures but you actually prayed the scriptures as well? This is what my friend Mark Batterson refers to as habit stacking, where you take two habits and do them at the same time, like you drink coffee and you read the Bible. Well, what if you drank coffee, you read the Bible and you also prayed? Now you've stacked three habits. That's, I think, a big Mac, but whatever the case.

So I wanted to take chapter one creation, the beginning of life as we know it and just teach you how to pray through this chapter. Now, I won't read every word of the chapter, but I did go through and highlighted a few areas that I think are worth stopping at as we read it and praying about it as we go. So here we go with chapter one creation, the beginning of life as we know it, and this would be probably page one. Here we go In the beginning. God created the heavens and the earth. Now, the moment I read this, I could stop and pause and simply pray this prayer God, you started things from the beginning.

Would you start things in my life today? Would you be in the beginning of my day? Would you be in the beginning of my meetings? Would you be in the beginning of my marriage? Would you be in the beginning of my parenting? God, would you be the beginning of my life? Maybe even open your calendar and look through what it is you have to do today and simply say God, I Want you to be the first in every one of these situations. May you be first in my lunch meeting. May you be first in the time that I'm working on this project. Would you be first in my mind as I'm driving home. Would you be first in the way I communicate with my spouse. God, you were in the beginning. You started all this. Would you be in the beginning of every moment of my life today?

Let's keep reading, we make it through a few more pages and we get to this passage. God says this so God created mankind in his own image. In the image of God, he created them, male and female. He created them. Now, what if you were to stop right here and pray this prayer God, may I see myself as made in your image.

You are one who creates. You are one who loves. You are one who serves. You are one who gives. You are one who protects. You are one who forgives. Boy, think how different your life would look if you saw yourself in the image of God. God, rather than my image being defined by how I look or by how I dress, or by sexual preference, or by Occupation, or by my talents or my gifts or lack thereof, my height or my weight or my background or my skin color. God, may I see myself made in your image. I am made by you and for you and because of that, if you are my father and I am made in your image, well then I have some of your traits. When I get creative, that's from you. When I have my heart broken, apparently you do too. When I am saddened by people that are hurting and impoverished and diseased, apparently you are too, god. When I Want to forgive but lack the power, I lean into the fact that I made in your image, so I ask for your help. God, you have made me as someone that has DNA and traits of you. God, may that be evident in my every moment today. Let's move on.

We read a little bit further, and then we get to this verse. Hey, let me interrupt for just a second. If you're a church leader and your church does not have an app, or your app seems to be a little bit limited, check out Subsplashcom as a great resource to really give your app all the horsepower that it needs. You can connect people, you can help them get access to messages and you can help them set up recurring giving, which is a game changer when it comes to resourcing your ministry. Subsplashcom Okay, back to our episode. And then we get to this verse.

The Lord God said it is not good for man to be alone. I will make him a helper suitable for him. What if we stop right there and just pray? God, it's not good for me to be alone. Who can I be a friend to? Would you put someone in my path today who feels alone? God, let's be honest, I feel alone. May I share my life with someone else. May I be vulnerable with my spouse and my kids. May I be forgiving when they don't reciprocate. And, god, if you choose to have me be Friendless a little longer, single a little longer, may I know I'm never alone because you are with me. Let's keep moving.

We find another verse. It says that is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife and they become one flesh. This is after Eve has been created out of Adam. Now they are together. What if we prayed this prayer? God is there any way. I have not been fully engaged with my spouse. Have I been disengaged because of my work or my hobbies, or even other people? Have I had a wondering eye? Have I ventured into pornography? Have I let my family of origin or my friends be a louder voice and influence than my spouse? God, you have wed us together. You have united us together. May I be faithful to that union.

Let's look at another passage. The serpent now comes on the scene the image of the evil one, the enemy, and here's his tactic. Here's the verse. Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden? Let's pray this prayer, god, where have I listened to? Did you really say when I want to stop tithing, stop giving generously to people? Is that the moment I hear the phrase? Did God really say you still need to tithe? What about when I venture away from your sexual boundaries, god, am I saying? Did you really say that I should stay within those? What about when it comes to power or fame? Do I tend to believe the lie? Did God really mean that I shouldn't use those things for my benefit? What if the ends justify the means? God, where have I reinterpreted your words? Through the words of the enemy, god, I want to trust in what you really did say rather than question it and assume it no longer matters.

Soon after the sin, we read this passage, which is a great point for us to stop and pray. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord among the trees of the garden. But the Lord, god called to the man. Where are you, god? Is there any way I'm hiding from you? Obviously, you know all, you see all, but is there anything that I'm hoping or assuming you wouldn't notice or see? Maybe it's my web browser. Maybe it's my history on the internet. Maybe it's what I watch when nobody else is in the house, god, maybe it's the words that I say to my family and I pray nobody else hears. Maybe it's the thoughts that I think about my co-workers and I pray nobody else discovers. God, where am I hiding from you? Let's venture on to this one Now.

Abel kept flocks and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time, cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering. Abel also brought an offering fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry in his face. He was downcast. God, where have I brought you leftovers? My prayer time, my money, my serving, my efforts, my time with you? God, are you getting the first or are you getting the leftovers? And let's look at one more.

We continue to read about Noah. It says this Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. God, may I walk blameless today. May I be faithful today. May I be worthy to be used by you today. That's a good place to stop.

That gets us towards the end of the chapter and now, instead of it being a one-way conversation, it's been back and forth. It's been God sharing with you and you sharing with God. It's been you interacting with The Story. And now, when you meet with your group and we talk about what's God doing in these story and what's God doing in your story, now we're ready. This is like a four-part habit stacking we drank coffee, we read, we prayed and we prepped for our small group time. Friends, you can do this every single chapter. What do you think your life would look like if, over the next 30 weeks, you read and you prayed and you prepped for your small group time? I think you have a better understanding of what God is doing in these story and a much better understanding of what God is doing in your story.