Is There Room for the Lord in Your Life?

Amen, let's give the Lord one more hand clap of praise It'd be what a great day to be in the house of the Lord Someone could turn the heat up outside that would be great, but God is good. Amen. What an honor it is to be Back with you today And we give God praise and I will confess to you this What I'm about to tell you is not really my world I don't I don't follow it or pay much attention to it, but I Was thrown into a group text last night with a bunch of men From our church at home as they were worshiping. I thought I'm in a dangerous place this morning I'm a preacher from Indiana in Ohio Thank God we're in a church. I Yeah, I don't I don't really follow it. I was more of a basketball guy as a young man

And God is good. Amen Thank the Lord. We're gathering for someone Who can never lose? Amen, I give honor today to your pastor and his wife And I know that you understand this, but you're blessed with great leadership And I honor them and thank them for their friendship And I honor you Prioritize in the house of God many things that you could do You could be home in your pajamas Sitting by a fire because that's what this kind of weather likes to make a lot of people do but here you are You made the right decision and I honor you for making the house of God a priority And if you have a Bible, I invite you to grab it now. I'm gonna read from Luke chapter 2 verses 4 through 7 I was in the room last evening enjoying a cup of coffee and that recliner

Just feeling after the Lord I I felt my assignment today to come and to just Provoke you to consider The value of a relationship with Jesus And so I'm going to draw my text from What is probably a very familiar passage of scripture to all of us certainly at this time of the year This is the bible in Luke 2 and 4 it said Joseph went up Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea unto the city of david which is called Bethlehem Because he was of the house and lineage of david verse 5 Says he was to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife being great with child And so it was that while they were there the days were accomplished that she should be delivered Verse 7 says and she brought forth her firstborn son Wrapped him in swaddling clothes And laid him in a manger

Because there was no room for them in the inn And I want to preach to today just for a few minutes on this title It's a question. Is there room for the lord in your life? Amen, is there room for the lord In your life. Let's pray together one more time father. We love you I thank you for the Spirit of the lord we feel in this house today god as we've lifted our hands and voice we've opened our hearts and worship We have felt your spirit move among us And I pray now as we turn our attention to your word. I'm asking father that you would help me speak But together you would give us ears that are ready to hear hearts that are tender towards you I pray lord that something would be stirred within us to pursue you with greater desire To hunger after you in a way that we have never hungered before

I pray lord that you would help us now and we ask these things in jesus name And everybody said amen Amen Is there room for the lord in your life? As you are aware the text that I read from this morning Falls in what we would call that christmas story We are presumably well acquainted with these passages of scripture And consider them at this time of the year no doubt I think it would do us well to remind ourselves today that These verses that I read from this morning occur Some four thousand years after the prophecy Given in the book of genesis That spoke of the serpent being crushed by the heel of the woman These are what theologians call messianic prophecies It was god speaking to his people And telling them that there is a time that the enemy will rule There is a time that sin will reign

There is a time that the world will be tossed and turmoil and confusion But god was telling his people i have a plan And that's why the bible speaks to us It says there was a lamb slain from the foundation of the world But when you go to the book of genesis you don't find a lamb And you don't find any killing or a lamb being slain This was god speaking of this plan He said in Galatians 4 that it happened in the fullness of time But what he was saying was all the way back at the beginning Before I created the world that is And before I spoke that very first prophecy I had a plan And so while we look to Luke chapter 2 today The fact is god had had this plan He'd been talking about this plan for thousands of years

We could look to the writings of the prophet Isaiah He spoke of a sign that would be given A virgin should be with child This is again what the theologian would call the messianic prophecy It was god speaking to his people That there would be a messiah He would speak to awaken their expectation to breathe Hope into their hearts to cause them to look with great expectation of this coming messiah who would Once and for all deliver them and put sin under his feet now Isaiah speaks 750 years before the birth of christ And this is to say that the moment that we read of in Luke chapter 2 The people of god have been waiting for a long time They have been anticipating this day For centuries even millenniums For decades and centuries and millenniums Hundreds of years have passed Prophets have spoken Students have studied the scripture and the people of god have looked and wondered and waited

When will he come and how will he do it and finally now is that time But yet it is we must consider this truth Sometimes the thing that we most want And the thing that we most need We are not ready for as we should be The unfortunate situation is this The situation of which we read in our text a woman who's just written 70 Kilometers on the back of a donkey Who is pregnant contractions are coming and is soon to give birth She can find no place to rest this night. There is no room in the end It is by my estimation The unfortunate situation that is on the one hand Perhaps what we could say is somebody who was not ready A man that should have been more well prepared And on the other hand an innkeeper who was perhaps too ready And so it is we find some resemblance of our own lives

Some who are not ready and some who are too ready Some who plan everything to the last detail and are busy and perhaps too busy In others that have not planned at all They just go wherever the wind may lead them And somewhere in the middle is the reality of how we ought to live And here again looking to our text the bible said they're there The days were accomplished. She is soon to be delivered She knows i'm about to give birth But finding no place in the end She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger To many it seemed like another ordinary birth This is just another woman and this is just another baby This is just another day like so many days before But little did that innkeeper know the opportunity that passed him by Not only was the fact that Mary is pregnant and miracle

She is still a virgin and is with child But she is literally about to give birth to a miracle The angel said you shall call his name Jesus For he shall save people from their sins She will give birth to the messiah That prophecy that was spoken in genesis in the garden of Eden Those prophecies that were uttered by the elders of the faith like isaam This prophetic reality that has hovered upon the earth and that the people of god have waited and looked for for Hundreds and now thousands of years It is soon to be fulfilled here and now But to them she's just another woman This is just another day And this is just another baby I'm sorry, but there's no room in the end And so a manger is the place where he is laid Not because the innkeeper is hostile He's just busy

He did not despise the lord. There is nothing ill in his heart towards Mary Joseph or the child that she will soon birth quite frankly Life Is going pretty good for him Perhaps too good His business is booming The end is full. There is no vacancy He as an owner of the end could not dream of a better night of business Life is good Business is booming He is busy And herein is the first thing I want to convey to you today That being busy is not equal to being spiritual We can busy our lives even with the activity of the church and events and programs and We can busy our lives and fill our calendars but being busy Is not the same as being spiritual Paul wrote in that book of galatians and said are you so foolish that you are trying to finish

In the flesh what has begun by the spirit He was conveying to us this most important reality We have to be spiritual There is no alternative to being spiritually minded In fact, Paul wrote in the book of romans and said that if you are carnally minded you are at enmity with god You are against god you fight against god And so it is we are presented with this truth today That being busy is not always the same as being spiritual And sometimes our busyness occupies the room that Jesus needs You think well i'm doing a good thing yes But a good thing can become a bad thing when it crowds out the necessary thing And the necessary thing is Jesus Now I know today I preach to you of a story that is thousands of years old But I trust that you know as I do it is still

relevant today The statement on that night was there is no room In the end and while that was spoken An antiquity it is a mirror of our world and a message for us all Because on that night the city was crowded and on this day our lives are crowded And on that night he came looking for a space where he could have Comfort and welcome and warmth in this day. He does the same But he's not looking for an end. He's looking for a life. He's not looking for a bed He's looking for a heart. He's looking for somebody who will say god I will make room for you in my life I've come to preach to you today of this most simple truth There is nothing more valuable than a relationship with Jesus christ And I want to ask you this question today Is there room for the lord in your life? I know you're busy. We're all busy

I know there's many things that fill our days and weeks and months and We've got jobs and careers and responsibilities Out of the church and in the church and we're busy at work and we're busy at home And we've got family to see and friends to see and tasks to complete Duties to take care of we are all busy. This is the nature of the world The scripture told us that in the last days it would be people going to and fro That did not just speak to us of the reality of travel and the globalization as we see him He was speaking to the manner of our lives were hurried and scattered busy never still never stopping And so it is we could get so busy that we have no room for the lord Is there room for the lord in your life? Is there room in your home for the lord?

Does your calendar make space for god? Is there room in your family for the lord? Is he welcome at your dinner table? Is he welcome into your living room? Is there room for the lord in your life? Paul wrote to the church at Philippi He was desiring a man Who could go and check on the state of the believers As the apostle who had established that work in that city as you can imagine Like a parent would care for a child. He is Burdened it weighs upon his mind. He he wonders are they staying strong in the faith? Are they in the word? Are they holding to the truth? Are they Faithful in their devotion? Are they faithful to the house of god? Are they living upright? Are they Maintaining righteousness in morality? Are they still praying as they ought to pray? Are they faithful in their giving as they ought to and as he is burdened by the care of the church?

He would write in philippians 2 to that young man and he said I I have no man like minded I'm looking for somebody who will care for you But he said all seek their own and not the things which are Jesus christ I preach to you. This is the reality of our lives I go to many places and many churches Big and small and big cities and rural villages and I've been to third world countries and first world cities And the struggle of our day is not to find a place that god is interested in God has a plan for every city God has a plan for every town in every nation God has interest in desire God has a heartbeat for revival and growth The struggle rather is not on the lord's part The struggle is to find somebody who will allow their pursuits to become secondary to the kingdom

To find somebody who will put their desires secondary to god's desires To find families that say we will be a family that prioritizes the kingdom To find people that say I'm not here for my own will. I am here for the will of god That is the mentality that blesses the kingdom Those are the kind of people that become the avenue of increase for a church Those are the people that god uses to prosper his work It seems so simple, but yet it is so hard Jesus spoke to those disciples Who are following him so faithfully yet in their mind? They are burdened by the cares of life and they wonder well Where will we live and what will we wear and what will we eat and as their mind and their conversation is So burdened by the reality of life. He speaks that simple and profound statement

It is what I call my life verse matthew 6 and 33. He said but seek ye first the kingdom of god and his righteousness And all these things shall be added unto you What things all the things you're worried about all the things you're trying to figure out All the things you're trying to make sense of I've got good news for somebody in this house today You don't have to figure it all out All you have to do is prioritize god in your life And when you let god be god and when you make god first and you're obedient to the word And you are faithful to the scripture You don't have to figure it out. You can just faith it out and as you follow god God will do what is really good at doing. He'll be god in your life I've been around this thing called church long enough

That i've come to realize there are some people that get pulled astray and caught up in the world There are some people that they do make grievous mistakes and commit gross acts of sin And they get caught up in a wicked and evil lifestyle But the overwhelming majority of people that have tasted of the good word of god But have fallen back in the world that he brought them out of the overwhelming majority of them were not evil They didn't set out to be immoral or grotesque or vile in their manners. No The overwhelming majority of people just got busy Just got distracted Stop praying stop reading the word Stop prioritizing Sundays stop showing up to midweek bible study They made the mistake of getting too busy for the necessary thing They got too busy to pray too busy to read too busy to worship too busy to fast too busy to give

They got too busy for god So i've come today to ask you is there room for the lord in your life I don't want it to be that when god shows up at my house and god shows up in my world And god shows up to my church I don't want it to be that the thing i've been waiting for and the thing i most need That i'm not ready to receive it I'm telling this church in the holy ghost today. There are some things that this church has been waiting for That are closer than you realize and the question is not is god going to do it Or can god do it, but are you going to be ready for it when it comes? Are some men and some women Some husbands and wives some young people some families that will gather together and say god

Will be first in my life I've scoured every resource. I know to scour i've i've looked at the commentaries I looked at the greek lexicons i i've read all the smart people i know to read and This is what i found out first Means first of greater value of greater priority before all other things First just means first paul would write in colossians one speaking of the lord. He said he was before all things In him all things are held together He was the beginning the firstborn of the dead so that he himself hear this would have first Place in everything This is God's desire You realize what it is to be first It's to be god God is simply saying i am who i am And i want you to let me be who i want to be I can be your healer I can be your deliverer

I can be your provider I can be your savior I can be your peace. I can be your joy I can be the love of your life. I am god So please Let me be god That's what he's saying. That's what it is to be first He's not a cruel master He's not a distant lord He is so close He is so personal I'm preaching to you today about the necessity But even more than the necessity The value and the beauty of a relationship with jesus Is their room For the lord In your life and so To their disappointment The endkeeper says we have no room So she lays him in a manger. I've been privileged to be In israel's where we met On a trip to israel and They walk you through bethlehem and Kind of come around this dirt road Side of this little makeshift hill and you walk in a little cave. It's not the manger as

We are so accustomed to thinking from our Christmas dramas and child Sunday school presentations Really was like a cleft in a rock cut out into a little cave and Hardly comfortable. It's not the mattress at the marriott But it was a place It was a manger It wasn't an inn. It was not what they desired But it was a place And herein is the second thing. I want you to understand today God was not looking for perfection He was just looking for a place In our more modern vernacular and perhaps the context that we are more familiar with god does not need our performance But he is looking for our authenticity Because god will not work In what is pretend And if we're not careful We can pretend to have church We can sing the songs and play the instruments We can go through the program and execute it exactly as planned and god

Not be anywhere in our thoughts or the pursuit of our heart. What is that? It is to be what the scripture spoke of to have a form of godliness It looks right, but it denies the power thereof How can this be? You're in the right place, but your mind is a million miles away You're in the right place, but your heart is not set on the lord God is not interested in that pretend Artificial plastic kind of penny cost. He never was looking for perfection It was not a building made with hands the bible said Instead he is looking for what he has called for from the beginning of time He spoke to the patriarch in the old testament and he said i want you to worship me with sincerity and with truth You can't come however you want to come you've got to come on the basis of truth

You've got to believe my word and do as i said and yes truth is necessary But so is truth on the inward part I want you to come with sincerity What good is a relationship without sincerity? It is no relationship at all And this is what jesus was trying to convey to them. I don't really need your perfection I don't need the marriott the hilton I don't need a rich carlton I wanted an end but all i got was a manger and i'll take whatever i can get Because i'm not coming for perfection I'm coming for a place and it does not matter what that place looks like or the condition that that place is in Because when i get in that place that place will change 2000 years ago on that night he was born in that little cave and now Thousands of people year after year travel to the hillsides of bethlehem

To peek into that same little cave because on one night god showed up in that place It's hardly beautiful. It's hardly comfortable. It would not meet our definition of perfection But god was never looking for perfection. He was just looking for a place And this is what i want you to know today. You don't have to be perfect You don't have to have it all together to have a relationship with this god All you have to do is purpose that you will make a place in your life And just like he did to a cave on a hillside in bethlehem He'll do to you when his presence shows up in your life He starts changing you and working in you and all of a sudden you have value and purpose And people are coming to see you and look at you and ask you questions

Wondering what happened? How did this happen? Where did you go? Why do you do this? What changed about you and you say hey, there's nothing perfect about me There's nothing special about me. All I did was make a place for god in my life A manger! That's all he got But it's really all he needed He wasn't looking for perfection. He was just looking for a place And so it is that I would charge you today That prayer is our manger Prayer is that thing That is so humble It's not pretty But oh it's needed Prayer is that thing that gives god place in our lives And so I speak to the church today I speak to the atmosphere of your home I speak to the disposition of your heart And I tell you prayer must be our priority If we do not take time to pray

Any sense of perceived success is meaningless If we do not take time to pray then we are nothing more than pretend Christians Pretend Pentecostals Prayer has to be our priority The setting of our mind and our heart on the Lord The atmosphere of our home shaped by the lifting of our voices unto god The sense of this house to church The atmosphere of this holy sanctuary being shaped by the corporate cry The lifting of our voices and prayer and worship as we entertain the presence of the most high god Prayer is quite literally our manger It is the thing we build it is the thing we construct that gives god a place Jesus walked into that temple in the new testament angry Rebuke them with those words. He said my house was supposed to be a house of prayer It is because he knew that prayer is the thing that makes a place for me

A walking into a house a church that was void of prayer He is angered He flips the tables and he drives the money changers out All of that was permissible You can find it in the law of moses. There was a place for that The action was not inherently wrong The attitude was They had fallen into the formality of life and they just got busy changing money and busy offering sacrifices And now the value system of their life was constructed on the values of convenience and comfort Which are so contrary to to how the kingdom operates and god walked into that environment That was supposed to be his house. There was supposed to be a place for him But there was no prayer. There was no place the welcome that was not down And he was grieved. So I say Prayer has got to be our priority

There is no service to god It can be a replacement for prayer No amount of talent or ability Can replace prayer Prayerlessness really is in its highest form pride It is to say god I can do this without you I don't need you And even though I say I want you I don't Because if I did I'd pray The bible is full of scriptures like pray without ceasing Jesus taught his disciples and he said men ought Always to pray Paul wrote He said that you are praying always There's so many it seems evident he he's spoken the sermon on the mount and he said when You pray it was the assumed behavior of anybody that would follow the lord prayer Is our manger It's the thing we do That gives god a place To walk into our lives and our families and our churches and do the thing

That we have been waiting for From the very beginning All he needs is a place He doesn't need your perfection And he doesn't need your performance He just needs your sincerity And your authenticity In fact, that that's really all prayer is it's talking to god as vulnerable In as pure and sincere as you would talk to anybody else Our keyboard can come I won't be too much longer here prayerlessness Is the highest form Of pride As we come into this holiday season I always come back to this story In these words There was no room for him In the end Because on the one hand our world seems more attentive to the reality of the name of jesus than ever before You walk into a store and they're singing songs on the radio About the name of jesus But lives are unchanged and people are busy running place to place and store to store and it's supposed to be all about him

And it sounds like it is But i'm not sure that it really is And today in this season He's doing The same thing he was doing 2000 years ago He's looking for somebody That he can come through To get into the world Mary and I know you're never going to carry that baby in your womb like she did But the principle is true. He's looking for somebody who will make themselves available and say be it unto me according to thy word You can use me god You can use my life. You can inconvenience me You can launch me into places of inconvenience and discomfort for the sake of somebody else's salvation What was he doing? He was just looking for a place a womb A belly A life That he could get in So he could get through And on that night Joseph showed up at the end looking for a place. He was just doing the same thing he'd always been done

He was looking for a place This is all god's ever done Time would not permit us today to go through the entirety of the scripture, but that's what the garden of eden was It was a place. That's what the promised land was. It was a place That's what the holy city was. It was a place the story of your bible is the story of god Looking for a place in the world But ultimately he's not just looking for a place in the hills in eastern ohio He's looking for a place in your heart in your life God preached you today. There is nothing More valuable than a relationship with jesus To the church of laodicea in revelation three the bible said this was the lord's rebuke He said you say that i'm rich and increase with goods and have need of nothing But you don't even know that you're wretched miserable poor blind and naked

You think because you have money And you have possessions That you have need of nothing But you don't even know That the most valuable thing to have Is a relationship with jesus I confessed to you today. I have many things, but I know I need I have a place to call home I have food on my table and I have a car to get in I have closed the way I have many things And I refuse to be seduced into the way of thinking That the laodicea church fell prey to Because for them life was probably a lot like the innkeeper Business was booming. They were busy It was good But it was only good Until the good crowded out the grave And the good left no room for the necessary The raise is good. The job is good. The trip is good. The home is good. The possessions are great until

It leaves no room for god And you think well i'm doing great. I have more money than I ever had I'm doing better than I've ever done. We're finally able to go there and do this and do that But be careful Less than all you're going and all you're doing and all you're getting Those good things Leave no room for the great thing There is nothing more valuable than a relationship with jesus There's no gift that you can put under the tree That's more valuable And then a relationship with him. You think you're rich? Many possessions? And so you think you have need of nothing But really you do What you need Is a relationship with the lord And I come Right in the midst of this wonderful holiday season when our calendars Are full of parties and events and gatherings and we are running

from house to house and feasting and fellow shipping and we get so busy and We are buying gifts and giving gifts and making this and making that What a time of year that was really about his coming But has been grossly commercialized I'm not against a tree and i'm not against a gift It's the nature of god to give But somewhere in the busyness and somewhere in the giving and the getting We can't lose sight that the thing we actually need Is a relationship with jesus I sat in that room back there and that recliner last night reading these scriptures Sipping on that cup of coffee Was talking to the lord Thank god There's so many times in my life when I had Less money and less possessions and more struggle and this and that and I thought well when we finally get this When we finally get there

When this finally changes and when that finally changes It'll all be different and it won't be like this anymore. And then I got there And I got this And I got that And the feelings of want never died And the feeling of satisfaction wasn't filled and I have learned the lie That the leo desians believed But I've lived long enough to reject the lie And discover the truth And the satisfaction That only a relationship with god can bring you god That's the cry of my heart Rocking in that chair. I did it again this morning and I plan on doing it again in my own chair tomorrow morning God I have need of you But it's just not what I need. It's what I want more than any gift god more more than any possession I want a relationship with you I want to feel your presence

I want to know what it is to hear your voice. I I want to open up my bible And I want your word to comfort me. I want your word to counsel me. I want your word to give me direction Stand together with me the most dangerous place to be Is to be content Or apathetic and blessed Life's good Sure, it could always be better But it could be a whole lot worse And when you grow apathetic While also being blessed Your possessions become The substitute For god in your life Money ma'am and It takes the place of his majesty for him The way you used to You don't pursue him with the fervency That you know you should And to that church of laodicea. This is what jesus said in verse 20 behold I stand at the door And knock If any man hear my voice and open the door

I will come into him and will sup with him And he With me He's knocking Which tells me That even the god of all glory Who has all power and heaven and earth Will not force his way Into your life He'll make himself known And wait to see if you will open the door And invite him in But he can only be that to you if you let him Your life doesn't change god It just limits God's work In you And so if you could turn your ear to the spirit today If you could turn your ear to the lord Here's what you'd hear someone someone at the door. Oh, yes It's jesus He's just wondering do you have any room In your life For me I know you're busy. I I know the day is long and I know there's things to do and I know I know

He knows all things But really the most important thing Is a relationship With jesus He said if you'll hear my voice His voice it's his word That's what you're hearing today. It's the voice of god. I know it comes through the voice of a man But it's his word talking to us It's his voice calling us Saying Is there anybody home is there do you have room? I'm glad I know it's sunday morning and you're in church We used to say it like this. I'm preaching to the choir I should be preaching to the people that didn't come to church today, but what about tomorrow And what about tuesday And what about the day after that? And what about when you have a few days off over the christmas holidays Will you hear it when you wake up early in the morning and perhaps the

The temptation is to just scroll your phone or turn on your television or But you're sitting in your chair All of a sudden you hear it. It's the lord saying Do you have room For me today, I'd like to fellowship with you I'm glad you came to church today, but this was never meant to be The culmination of your relationship with the lord I'm telling someone in this room today. There there is a world Of goodness and god To know and to experience But you're gonna have to make place for him in your life In your home in your family in your heart Would you bow your heads and would you close your eyes? I want you now to just take a moment here and I want you to think About the construct of your days your patterns your habits your routines Because we have to take time to pray

It's not optional So I want you to think where are you going to take time from He's giving you 24 hours. He's not going to give you anymore We'll not give you more time. You must choose. Where will I take time from? Will I take it from my sleep? I take it from my social media Will I take it from my hobby? Will I take it from my work day? Will I take it from my tv You're gonna have to find the time in your day that you take back To carve out a relationship with god I've come here in the midst of a season that is grossly commercialized and robbed of its spirituality to let you know God wants a relationship with you A relationship that's so much more than a sunday morning That's part of it, but it's not all of it. I love you, jesus

I love you lord. I'm gonna invite you to your seat. I think it'd be all right if we gathered around this altar for a few minutes I've come here today to provoke somebody to try to cause you to consider the necessity And the beauty of a relationship with the lord The thing that a meaningless cleft in a rock a little cut out in the side of a hill Has become one of the most visited places in the world Because god Showed up there all he's looking for today is you to offer him a little space A place in your life and he can bring value to you and purpose to your life He can show his glory and the beauty of his holiness through you if you would just give him a little place He can give you a purpose If you would just give him a place

He could show you his power if you just give him a place Would you lift up your hands? Come on his presence is here This is exactly what I felt in that room last night when I just began to talk to the lord I felt such a sweetness Settle upon me and wash over me It was almost like I was in the recliner and the lord was sitting on that couch as we talked one to another and He felt so near to me It was like every worry in my mind washed away and every care in my life disappeared as There was nothing greater than fellow shipping with my father Come on. That's it. That's prayer. That's how it works But you close your eyes remove ever distraction Just open up your mouth and begin to talk to him You say, what do I talk about you talk about all the things you talk about with anybody else

Tell him what you have need of Tell him what you're worried about tell him what you're afraid of and then begin to tell him how good he is But I know that I'm troubled by these many things, but But you are god and I'm going to let you be god in my life I'm putting you on the throne of my life First in my family. I'm going to let you be the provider that you said you were I'm going to let you be the healer that I know you are He already is you just have to let him be it Come on. I'm contending for a faith beyond sunday. I'm contending for prayer beyond sunday I'm contending for the word beyond sunday I'm talking about carving out a relationship a lifestyle of daily fellowship with the lord About making room for god in your life. Don't let it be said of you

What was of them that there was no room? I clean out my heart today father. I repent Of everything that's unlike you Forgive me lord for being busy with so many things that keep me from you Forgive me lord when I had been so Overwhelmed and distracted instead of coming to you Surrendering the cares of life in your presence Instead I let them drive me away from your presence Father we ask for your forgiveness and your mercy today forgive us lord for living Beneath the standard of spirituality that you desire for us For prayer ought not be a hard thing It ought not be a burden. It should be the joy of our lives. I pray lord that you would change our perspective Change our disposition Give us a heart That hungers for you Give us a heart that's sensitive to your spirit Lord let it let it flow from the sincerity with which we live

It's not a performance and it's not perfection But it's just a sincere heart god let this be a church feel with people who have a sincere desire To know you and to experience you and to walk with you I pray lord that you would begin to draw the sincere out of these hills into this house Lord people who are not looking for performance or perfection But people who have a sincerity in their heart towards the lord I pray you would bring them into this house Where they may hear and know the truth and the truth may set them free I pray for a revival of sincerity in this church I pray for a revival of sincerity in this community draw them from every corner draw them from every hill Lord you said it would be by sincerity and by truth We're making room god We're making room. Oh, I love you. Jesus. I love you. Jesus. Yes

I didn't really come this morning to preach As much for this moment As much for the days and weeks that follow But I think it would be fitting That we don't let a moment Pass us by It may not have been our intention But that does not mean it cannot be for our benefit Jesus was just passing through a city. He had no intention of stopping But one man named zakius Said I know it's not your intention But it is my moment And so I didn't really come here preaching specifically for this moment I'm really contending that you would make room in your life That you would consider your days And that you would take time from wherever you must take it to make a place for the lord We have a moment right here And if you have a need if you have a specific need would you just lift up both your hands

If you have a need in your life your mind your body your finances Come on lift your hands lift them high Because the giver is in the room today Father you see and you know all things You have power to heal every sickness You have provision to supply every need When your presence washes over our minds Fear and anxiety and its hold upon our thought patterns is broken I take authority right now in the name of the lord jesus christ And I pray by the power that's in your name and the power that's in your word That you would move across this sanctuary With signs wonders and miracles I pray you would heal you would set free You would restore you would make new Come on. That's it. Let it happen. Come on. Let god put victory and virtue into your life Come on if you're like zakius and if you don't want to miss your moment

All you've got to do is lift up your voice and call on him Jesus I have need I have need Yeah, and you know what jesus says zakius get down out of that tree Today I'm going home with you because he knew Anybody That'll make place in their heart Will also Make place in their home zakius If you're sincere enough to run ahead of the crowd and to climb a tree To get a look of me If it's in your heart Then I know It'll also be in your home So jesus didn't really even invite himself Or request permission. He just invited himself. I'm coming home with you And that's my prayer today God I pray the weight of your word and the drawing of your spirit that we feel in this moment Let it be more than a heart thing. Let it be a home thing

Faith that's trapped to the confines of our heart and our mind is really not faith at all I'm praying today lord that the word would give counsel to the saints of god That their homes Will become a place for you I feel strongly to tell To tell you today that the thing Which you need and you've waited and you've wanted it's closer than you realize But you got to make a place for the lord You know why You know why everybody is going To bethlehem to look at a cave Because an innkeeper had no room I promise you had the innkeeper had a vacancy There'll be a dilapidated But somewhat preserved In in bethlehem Everybody will be going to sea But he missed his opportunity And so instead We go to israel to look at a cave Don't miss your opportunity You want to carve out a place

Because god's promise is sure And his purpose is unchanged He will do exactly what he said he will do And when it comes time for him to do it, I don't want him to pass me by I don't want him passing harrison hills church by Because nobody made a place One more time come on lift your hands up to the lord He'll all my katana, all my shanda, all my ha Come on that's sad. That's beautiful. It's beautiful. That's it with those hands lifted. Will you tell god? Lord, I'm gonna do exactly what I've committed here today God, I'm going to make space for you god. I'm going to make more room