Participants: Shelley Quinn
Series Code: EHW
Program Code: EHW000018S
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00:19 Hello.
00:21 I'm Shelley Quinn 00:22 and welcome to 00:23 Exalting His Word. 00:25 Today, we're going to learn how to 00:26 take a Life Affirmation from Scripture 00:28 and pray according to God's will. 00:31 When we pray His promises back to Him 00:34 we know we have the answer. 00:36 We'll learn how to seek God's plan for our life, 00:40 and walk in perfect peace. 00:42 Now, this is going to be 00:44 a 'good ole fashion' Bible study. 00:46 So you might want to take some program notes. 00:49 Before we begin, 00:51 let's review our theme text which is 00:55 Psalms 138:2. 00:56 In that verse the Bible says that 00:58 God exalts His name and His word above all things. 01:02 And He exalts His word even above His name. 01:07 Now, what does that mean? 01:09 It means that 01:10 nothing is more important to God 01:12 than His word. 01:14 He has promoted His word to 01:15 the highest rank of importance 01:17 and He has assigned His word 01:19 the highest position of praise. 01:21 God exalts His word above all things 01:24 because He has granted creative, life giving power 01:29 to His word. 01:30 Power to accomplish all of His will. 01:34 And today you'll learn 01:37 how to exalt God's word 01:39 in a new way that will bring 01:41 victorious overcoming power to your life. 01:45 Let's ask the Lord to 01:47 bless our study before we begin. 01:50 Heavenly Father, 01:51 we come today to open your word 01:54 and we ask that the Holy Spirit 01:56 will be our teacher. 01:57 We ask Father God that 01:59 you will empower us by this word 02:02 and we ask that as we plant 02:04 your promises into our heart Father, that 02:07 you will help us Lord to 02:10 retain your promises 02:12 and to reap a harvest of righteousness. 02:15 In Jesus name, 02:16 Amen. 02:18 Now, let's look at our 02:19 first Life Affirmation from Scripture. 02:23 It says, 02:24 [information on screen] 03:16 Do you see what has happened here? 03:20 The Lord lead me to 03:22 take His scriptures 03:24 and to write them out in the form of a prayer. 03:27 Praying His word back to Him. 03:29 Now, let's take this apart 03:31 line by line 03:32 and I'll show you 03:33 the supporting scriptures for this. 03:35 because I want you to learn how to do this. 03:37 There's so much power in this 03:39 and it pleases the Lord 03:41 when we pray His word back to Him. 03:44 The first line says, 03:45 Heavenly Father 03:47 I am seeking you 03:48 with all my heart. 03:50 I got that in part from Psalms 63:1-4. 03:57 The Bible says, 03:59 "Oh God, you are my God. 04:01 "Earnestly I seek you. 04:04 "My soul thirsts for You. 04:06 "My body longs for you 04:08 "In a dry and weary land 04:11 "where there's no water. 04:12 "I have seen you in the sanctuary, 04:15 "and beheld your power and your Glory. 04:17 "Because your love is better than life, 04:21 "my lips will glorify You. 04:24 "I will praise You as long as I live. 04:28 "And in Your Name I will lift up my hands." 04:34 Then the next line says, 04:37 "Teach me how to draw nearer to you. 04:41 "Teach me how to press in to your presence." 04:45 I got that from two scriptures. 04:49 James 4:8 says, 04:52 "Draw near to God 04:54 "and He will draw near to you." 04:57 And Isaiah 6:1 says, 05:01 "I saw the Lord, 05:02 "sitting on the throne 05:05 "high and lifted up. 05:06 "And the train of His robe filled the temple." 05:10 Isaiah was pressing in to 05:14 God's presence in prayer. 05:17 And as He prayed with all of 05:19 His heart soul, mind, and strength, 05:22 the Holy Spirit lead him in prayer to 05:27 where he really pressed in to 05:30 the throne room of God. 05:32 And he saw the Lord high and lifted up. 05:35 That is a precious prayer experience but, 05:39 it doesn't happen if 05:42 we are just praying nominal prayers. 05:45 It doesn't happen when all we're doing is asking God 05:49 when we bring a shopping list before Him. 05:52 So, it's important that we want God to teach us 05:55 how to press in to His presence. 05:59 The next line says, 06:00 "You have loved me with an everlasting love. 06:05 "Help me to accept your love." 06:07 You know, I got that from Jeremiah 31:3. 06:13 And it says, 06:15 "The Lord has appeared of old to me saying, 06:17 "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. 06:22 Therefore with loving kindness 06:25 I have drawn you. 06:26 And Ephesians 3:16-19 is 06:31 where I got the part that says 06:35 help me to accept your love. 06:37 The Bible says, 06:38 "I pray that out of his glorious riches 06:40 "He may strengthen you with power." 06:44 How? 06:46 "Through his spirit in your inner being so that 06:48 Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. 06:53 and I pray that you being rooted and established in love. 06:58 May have power together with all of the saints to grasp 07:03 how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. 07:11 And to know this love that surpasses knowledge that 07:15 you may be filled to the measure of the fullness of God. 07:24 And then the next line in that affirmation says, 07:28 "You have a plan for my life 07:31 "and it's better than the one I'm living." 07:36 You know, I think each one of us could say this. 07:39 I know that the more I learn about God, 07:43 the more I realize I have yet to learn. 07:48 The more I learn about God's plan for my life, 07:51 the more I realize how little I'm still walking in that plan. 07:58 And I got this from Jeremiah 29:11-14 08:04 It says, 08:06 -This is the Lord speaking, 08:07 "For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord. 08:11 "Plans to prosper you 08:13 "and not to harm you. 08:15 "Plans to give you hope and a future. 08:19 "Then you will call upon Me." 08:23 When? 08:25 When do we call upon God? 08:27 When we recognize that 08:29 God has a plan for our lives. 08:31 It causes us to go to the Lord and call on Him. 08:37 And He says, 08:39 "Then you will call upon Me 08:41 "and you will come and pray to me 08:43 "and I will listen to you. 08:46 "You will seek me and find me 08:49 "when you seek me with all of your heart. 08:54 "I will be found by you, declares the Lord 08:58 "And I will bring you back from captivity." 09:02 God wants to bring you back from captivity. 09:07 No matter what circumstances are in your life that 09:13 are holding you captive, 09:14 God can cut the chord of 09:17 the wicked that tries to bind you. 09:20 That's what He says in Psalms 129:4. 09:23 That He is righteous and He will. 09:26 Then the next line of that affirmation says... 09:30 "I only have this lifetime to 09:33 "prepare for eternity. 09:36 "I realize my choices can have eternal consequences. 09:41 "Please cause me to make the right choices." 09:47 If you remember we've been studying that 09:49 God will cause us to be all that He calls us to be. 09:54 And we should be like the Psalmist says. 09:57 He says, "cause me to hear you! 10:00 "Cause me to seek you! 10:02 "Cause me to know you! 10:04 "Cause me Father God to know your will." 10:10 We need to pray that! 10:16 In Deuteronomy 30:19-20 it says, 10:18 "I have set before you life and death. 10:22 "Blessing and cursing, 10:24 "therefore, choose life. 10:27 "That you may love the Lord your God. 10:30 "That you may obey His voice. 10:32 "And that you may cling to Him for 10:35 He is your life. 10:38 And in Philippians 2:13, 10:43 this is where I got the part about 10:44 "Please cause me to make the right choices." 10:48 The Bible says, 10:49 "For it is God who works in you, 10:53 "Both to will and to act for His good pleasure." 10:59 You see the Lord will do both in us. 11:05 He will work in us to cause 11:07 our will to line up with His 11:10 and be in agreement with His. 11:11 And then once He does that, 11:13 all He asks of us, 11:15 once the desires of our heart have been changed, 11:18 once the attitudes of our mind have been renewed, 11:22 what the Lord simply asks is this; 11:26 He won't force us to act, 11:27 He says you just take out one baby step of faith, 11:33 and then I will show up with the power 11:36 and I will empower you to do the will 11:39 -My will. 11:42 The next line says, 11:44 "Teach me Your will. 11:46 "Reveal to me the path that I should walk, 11:51 "to find joy in Your presence." 11:54 I got this from three of my very favorite scriptures. 11:58 Psalms 143:10 says, 12:03 "Teach me to do your will. 12:06 "for you are my God. 12:09 "May your good spirit lead me on level ground." 12:15 And Isaiah 48:17 says, 12:21 "I am the Lord your God 12:23 "who teaches you what is best for you. 12:26 "Who directs you in the way that you should go." 12:31 And then possibly, 12:33 I think sometimes that I... 12:35 You probably hear me say, 12:37 "This is my favorite scripture or 12:39 "one of my favorite scriptures..." 12:41 I have so many! 12:42 But this is one of my favorite scriptures! 12:44 It's Psalms 16:11 and it says, 12:48 "You will show me the path of life, 12:51 "and in your presence is fullness of joy 12:56 "and at your right hand 12:59 "there are pleasures forevermore." 13:01 I have found that is absolutely 13:05 a true and wonderful promise of God. 13:09 The next line of our affirmation says, 13:12 "Cause me to seek you earnestly. 13:16 "God is looking for those 13:20 "who are earnest seekers. 13:22 "Who want to know His plan for their lives. 13:25 "Who want to know Him better 13:28 "and understand His love." 13:30 I got that in part from 13:32 Hebrews 11:6 and it says, 13:36 "Without faith, 13:38 "it is impossible to please God. 13:39 "Because anyone who comes to Him, 13:42 "must believe that He exists 13:46 "and that He rewards those 13:48 "who earnestly seek Him." 13:52 The next line of our affirmation says, 13:55 "Cause me to trust in Your word." 13:59 Proverbs 3:5-6 is where I got this. 14:03 And it says, 14:05 "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart 14:08 "and lean not on your own understanding. 14:11 "In all your ways acknowledge Him, 14:13 "and He shall direct your paths." 14:16 Let me ask you, 14:18 if God doesn't want us to lean 14:22 on our own limited human understanding, 14:26 what is it that you think He wants us to lean on? 14:30 He wants us to lean on His word. 14:33 We should go to the word for wisdom! 14:36 We should go to the word for understanding! 14:39 Now, let's put all of these back together... 14:43 and see how this affirmation comes out! 14:47 [affirmation on screen] 14:50 (We're going to pray God's word back to Him.) 15:37 Please stay tuned 15:38 and we're going to look at another affirmation 15:40 right after this announcement. 15:45 If this dynamic series is 15:46 making a difference in your life, 15:47 then you should know about 15:49 a special study guide 15:50 written by Shelley Quinn. 15:52 Exalting His Word with 15:53 Life Affirmations From Scripture 15:54 is an in depth study of the word of God. 15:59 Please send your love gifts to... 16:15 Welcome back! 16:17 Now, let's look at another 16:18 Life Affirmation from Scripture. 16:20 This one says, 16:22 [affirmation on screen] 17:02 Now, let's look at that line by line. 17:05 "I am walking in constant peace." 17:10 Wouldn't you like that? 17:11 His peace that guards my heart in all circumstances, 17:15 and is beyond human understanding. 17:18 That comes form Philippians 4:6-7 17:24 and it says, 17:25 "Be anxious for nothing. 17:27 "But in everything by prayer and supplication 17:32 "with thanksgiving, 17:34 "let your request be made known to God. 17:37 "And the peace of God which surpasses 17:41 "all understanding will guard 17:44 "your heart and mind 17:46 "through Christ Jesus." 17:50 The next line says, 17:52 "God keeps me in perfect peace because 17:54 "my mind has a steadfast trust 17:57 "in His Faithfulness." 17:59 That comes from Isaiah 26:3 18:03 And if you don't take any other program note, 18:06 write this scripture down 18:09 It says, 18:11 "You will keep him in perfect peace 18:13 "whose mind is stayed on you 18:17 "because he trusts in You." 18:20 You know whenever I realize that 18:26 I'm loosing my peace, 18:28 I know that my mind is not focused on God. 18:31 And the next verse says, 18:33 "Whenever I begin, or, 18:34 the next line of our Life Affirmation says, 18:36 "Whenever I begin to feel stressed and anxious, 18:40 "I realize my eyes are not focused on my Lord." 18:45 That comes from I Corinthians 14:33. 18:50 And that verse says that 18:51 God is not the author of confusion but 18:54 He is the Author of Peace. 18:57 So, if we're walking in confusion, 19:00 it's not God's fault! 19:01 It's because our eyes aren't focused in Him 19:05 and our mind is not trusting in Him. 19:08 And then, 19:09 the next verse for that is, 19:11 John 14:27. 19:15 Jesus said, 19:16 "Peace I leave with you. 19:18 "My own peace I now give 19:21 "and achive to you. 19:23 "Not as the world gives do I give to you. 19:27 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. 19:31 "Neither let them be afraid." 19:36 Then the next verse or line of 19:40 our Life Affirmation from Scripture, 19:44 says this, 19:45 "I return my thoughts to Him 19:49 "and place my complete trust in Him. 19:53 "He restores my peace 19:56 "causing me to overflow with hope by 20:01 "the power of His Spirit." 20:03 Let me give you the supporting scriptures for that. 20:11 Hebrews 12:2 says, 20:12 "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus. 20:15 "The Author and Perfector of our faith." 20:19 And if our eyes are on Jesus, 20:22 we'll have a totally different perspective 20:25 about that is going on in our lives. 20:31 Isaiah 30:15. 20:36 I've often called this 20:37 my life verse. 20:39 I'm gonna read it from 20:40 the "Amplified". 20:42 "For thus said the Lord God 20:44 "the Holy One of Israel, 20:46 "in returning to Me 20:48 "and resting in Me 20:50 "you shall be saved. 20:53 "In quietness 20:54 "and in trusting confidence 20:57 "shall be your strength." 21:00 Isn't that beautiful? 21:02 That's God's promise 21:03 when we return our focus to the Lord 21:06 and we realize that God is doing everything 21:10 for our eternal benefit, 21:12 we will find quietness and confidence in God. 21:18 And then Isaiah 32:17 says this... 21:24 "The fruit of righteousness will be peace. 21:29 "The effect of righteousness will be 21:32 "quietness and confidence forever." 21:39 Romans 15:13 is 21:44 the next verse for this line. 21:46 And this is a verse that 21:48 I often use at the Holiday time 21:50 during the Christmas Season. 21:53 When I send out greetings 21:54 I write this verse in because 21:56 it's such a beautiful verse! 21:58 It says... 21:59 "May the God of hope 22:01 "fill you with all joy and peace 22:06 "as you trust in Him so that 22:08 "you may overflow with hope 22:12 "by the power of the Holy Spirit." 22:15 Something that's interesting... 22:17 In the Greek, 22:18 hope means "eager expectation". 22:21 God is the God of eager expectations! 22:26 He plants His expectations in us. 22:31 He gives us that expectancy when we know His word. 22:35 When we know that He is 22:37 watching over His word to perform it. 22:40 As we plant His promises in our heart 22:44 and hold fast to them 22:46 and speak them back to the Lord 22:50 we can have hope. 22:51 We can have that hope that just bubbles over 22:56 by the power of the Holy Spirit. 23:00 Now, let's put all of those lines back together 23:02 for our original affirmation. 23:06 [Affirmation on screen] 23:51 You know, 23:53 there is something that I have noticed 23:57 about all people. 24:01 Peace is something that 24:03 very few people are enjoying. 24:05 I know quite a few people 24:07 who seem to have it all as far as material goods. 24:14 They have big houses. 24:15 They have nice cars. 24:16 They can vacation wherever they want. 24:19 But the thing that they're missing is 24:22 the peace of God. 24:25 There is no real joy 24:29 The pleasures that they are entertaining 24:31 themselves with 24:36 leaves them empty. 24:38 And I know that most people 24:43 I believe that you also seek peace. 24:47 We all do! 24:49 We all lose our peace at 24:50 sometime or another because 24:52 there are things that happen that 24:54 will interrupt our focus on the Lord. 24:57 The nice thing about it is that 25:00 if you will particularly take 25:03 Isaiah 26:3 25:04 and speak that over your life saying... 25:07 "God keeps me in perfect peace 25:10 "because I trust in Him. 25:12 "And my mind is steadfastly on Him." 25:15 God will do something interesting 25:17 and I can tell you this 25:19 by personal experience. 25:20 I had been speaking that scripture 25:22 over my life 25:24 for quite some time. 25:26 And then, 25:28 one day something happened that 25:29 was really very distressing. 25:31 I fretted and I fuss 25:33 and I rung my hands 25:35 and I just warded around 25:37 doing all kinds of things 25:38 with absolutely no peace! 25:41 And suddenly 25:42 the Lord got my attention. 25:44 And He impressed this thought on my mind... 25:47 Where are your eyes focused? 25:49 On the circumstances or on Me? 25:53 And you know something? 25:55 As soon as I returned 25:57 my focus to the Lord, 26:00 fixing my eyes on Jesus Christ, 26:02 the Author and Finisher of my faith, 26:05 He did restore my peace! 26:09 My circumstances hadn't changed, 26:12 I was still facing the same battle! 26:16 But all of a sudden 26:18 I knew that God was walking through 26:21 this fiery trial with me. 26:23 I knew that He would never 26:25 leave me nor forsake me. 26:26 I knew that He loved me with an everlasting love. 26:30 And that He was 26:32 a shield of protection over me. 26:36 And He restored my peace! 26:39 And because I was walking in 26:42 the peace of God with hope that 26:44 the Lord was gonna work these circumstances out, 26:48 I was actually able to 26:52 meet these circumstances. 26:54 Meet the challenge with much greater strength 26:57 because I was relying on His power to 27:02 be made perfect in my weakness! 27:03 Well, please join us next week 27:05 when we'll develop affirmations 27:09 about salvation by grace 27:11 and the glorious act of redemption. 27:14 I pray that God will multiply His mercy, 27:19 love and grace to you 27:22 and His peace to you. 27:25 And I pray that 27:26 He will watch over His word to perform it 27:30 in your life 27:31 as you cooperate with Him 27:33 by planting His promises in your heart 27:35 and speaking them back to the Lord. 27:38 Please remember to spend your time, 27:41 making that which is most important to you 27:44 the same thing that is most important to God 27:49 and that is, 27:51 spend your time 27:52 Exalting His Word! |
Revised 2023-11-02