RUT TO REVIVAL - SPIRITUAL RUT WITH GOD
We trust today’s message encouraged and guided you in your journey of following Jesus. These notes are meant to help you remember and reflect on the message, help you go deeper into study on the subject, or be used for a sermon group discussion. CLICK HERE to find a discussion group. Enjoy!
Sermon Title: Spiritual Rut With God
Main Scripture: Psalm 42:1-11
If you’re going through this discussion with a community group this week consider taking the time to read the provided scripture to catch everyone up!
Summary:
Pastor Ryan continued our series and in today’s message, we learned about one of the more common and dangerous ruts, a rut in our relationship with God. Pastor Ryan narrowed down this relationship rut with God to the lack of hunger and thirst for Him that we once had or maybe have lost over time. The Psalmist had a hunger and thirst for God that longed for more and was anxious to be in the glory of His presence. Our prayer is that we have the same or even greater hunger and thirst for God.
Pastor Ryan shared at least 3 ways we can lose our hunger and thirst for God: 1) We spoil our appetite. 2) We’re too busy to be fed. 3) We get spiritually sick. But how do we get out of this rut? How do we increase our hunger and thirst for God? We simply reverse the three ways we could be losing it…We reconnect with God for a time of refreshing even if we don’t feel like it. We fast and make time to be refreshed in the presence of God and by digesting His Word. We confess and repent of the sin that is making us sick and quenching our heart’s desire for God. Lastly, we get with other believers to encourage and serve one another. An important takeaway was: We won’t live in the revival life God has for us if the desires of our hearts are not hungry for more of God!
Notes:
The most common rut and probably the most dangerous rut to get stuck in is a spiritual rut (relationship rut) with God. You may recognize this rut as feeling spiritually dry, asleep, and not hungry or thirsty for more of God. You could feel disconnected, complacent, having difficulty feeling emotion towards God or your heart has hardened towards Him.
Symptoms that you are in a spiritual rut with God…
Your desire and hunger for God and more of Him is lacking. When you try to pursue God you have little to no endurance. You feel blah about your spiritual walk. Your flame for God feels like it is almost out.
Your alone time with God is distracted and often interrupted by other things.
You’re not hungry for the Word of God. You read the Word, but do it because you know you’re supposed to, not because you want to. When you do read the Word, nothing moves or ministers to you.
You struggle to pray. When you do pray, your prayer is brief and lacks fervor. The sense of relationship and intimacy between you and God is not there.
You’re less sensitive to the Spirit’s conviction when you’re under temptation. It used to be that you turned to God and fled temptation quickly; you still fight temptation today, but with less zeal.
You struggle to recognize and hear God’s voice through all the noise.
You can’t seem to get the clarity and direction you need from God.
You can’t readily talk about what God has been teaching you lately.
You sing to God through worship but your heart isn’t in it..
You’ve not shared the gospel, or shared your faith in Christ with anyone for a long time.
All of your testimony relates to what God has done in the past, with no present-tense stories of God’s work in your life.
Your spiritual walk is on autopilot. You do what you’re expected to do as a Christian, but you’re just going through the motions.
We get the point. I’m not listing these symptoms to get you into a rut. These symptoms help us examine our relationship with God because we may be in a rut with Him and not even realize it. We can get so used to a mediocre, half-full, half-hearted relationship with God and think this is all there is but that’s not God’s will…REVIVAL IS MORE OF GOD! God’s word says to love God, with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. God says to seek him and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart. God wants to be in a full, life-giving, overflowing love relationship with you. Do we long for the same?
Psalm 42:1-11 NLT CHECK OUT THE PSALMIST HEART IN OUR SCRIPTURE TODAY
The psalmist expresses beautiful desperation and longing for God. The deer which depends on streams of water to survive and thrive is a metaphor to express how our soul and spiritual life depend on God.
But the struggle was that the Psalmist felt separated and disconnected from God. He was not in Jerusalem to worship God so He cried out to God from where his physical and spiritual state. (Today, we encounter God anywhere through His Spirit!)
Discouraged and depressed the Psalmist did exactly what we should do…He chose to remember and put his hope in God. He acknowledge that God’s love is unfailing and praised Him in song and words! We learn to fix our thoughts and minds on God. Remember His Word and the blessings from above. Praising God in the midst of a struggle is a great antidepressant!
A common spiritual rut with God that I hear about is people lacking a hunger and thirst for God. It's even worse when you’re going through difficult times like this Psalmist. (But that’s why it is wise to live in “revival life” before those hard times come.)
We won’t live in the revival life God has for us if the desires of our hearts are not hungry for more of God!
But what if we’re not thirsty or hungry for God? Why would that happen?
REVIEW: HOW DO WE GET INTO RUTS?
Doing the same thing over and over again. Distractions. Disobedience. Disconnection/Distance. Doubt that turns to unbelief. Deception (Devil)
WHY WE MAY NOT BE HUNGRY AND THIRSTY FOR GOD?
We spoil our appetite. Can you imagine being invited to the best BBQ in the South and when the host offers you a plate of ribs, mac, and cheese, cornbread, green beans, or (baked beans), you say, “oh, no thanks…I already ate…” What did you fill up on? A TV Dinner. Say what?!
When we go to get our fill from other things or people, God tends to get the last space in our hearts. Eventually, our craving for Him diminishes. Getting our fill on other things makes us lose our appetite for God.
Proverbs 27:7 A person who is full refuses honey, but even bitter food tastes sweet to the hungry.
Mark 4:19 lists three things that “choke” the Word of God in our lives: cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and lusts of other things (also known as the pleasures of this life).
God is life and food for our soul and everyday living, not this world.
Too busy and distracted.
Ever been too busy to eat? Ever forget to eat?
The modern-day parable of the “Starving Baker.”
When we get too busy and distracted our souls run on empty. I would love to say that we crawl right to God, but at this point, we go to other things that don’t satisfy or help. We’ve gotten so distant it takes a few days to get back in tune with God, but we're so busy and in a hurry that reconnecting with God is “taking too long,” so we quit before we get fed by God. This is what happens when our schedule is too full and then our hearts are preoccupied with other things. Now, our distance isn’t making the heart grow fonder, it's making it wander.
We’re sick, spiritually.
We lose an appetite when we are physically sick. Spiritually, when we are going through something difficult or when we continue in sin, we can get spiritually sick and not go to God to heal us. It could be an offense, now we’re full of bitterness and so on. Psalm 42 is a good example of what we should do in hard times!
We need to be humble, and let God examine our hearts about things we’ve let overwhelm us or sins we’ve committed. We need to admit that our sin is quenching our hunger for God and now causing us shame… to the point of running from God…James 4:7-8 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty, is divided between God and the world.
As soon as we recognize we’re in this rut we need to make immediate changes.
HOW DO WE GET OUT OF THIS RUT?
Reconnect with God
The good news is God loves to be in a relationship with you. God wants to fellowship with you and bless you. God wants us to seek Him and when He calls out to us we ought to go to Him.
Psalm 27:8 NLT My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”
I remember being in my bedroom one evening, recently. My wife was falling asleep and I was watching the news. There was a drawing so strong that all I could sense was the words… “Come here…” I suddenly had a hunger to be with God. I knew where I needed to go and what I needed to bring with me. I went to the living room, grabbed my Bible, paper, and pen, and got on my knees. I had a holy meeting with God while everyone was asleep.
Don’t wait for those moments though…they don’t happen all the time and don’t ignore them either.
Taste and see that the Lord is good!
Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!
**Spiritual hunger is different from physical hunger. When we physically eat we get full and we don’t want to eat anymore. But spiritually, when we are fed by God’s presence and Word we get hungrier and want more.
Fast to Feast on God.
Stop nibbling and feasting on the things of this world. We don’t fast sin, we abstain from it, altogether. Fasting is not to stop sin, that’s a no-brainer and part of being pure and holy. There are things we’ll fast that have become a source or cause of sin in our lives.
Fasting is for things that aren’t inherently bad but they can become a hindrance if we fill up on them and not God.
Let me encourage you to start by carving out an hour of your evenings this week to spend in reading the Bible, talking to God, praying for others, and worshiping Him.
Leave room for God’s four-course meal!
Pursue times of refreshing with God.
We need times of refreshing with God for our souls. We need time to soak up God’s presence, His Word, His Spirit, and His encouragement through fellowship with other believers.
Where and when do we experience times of refreshing?
In the Word of God:
Psalm 19:7 The instructions of the LORD are perfect, reviving (refreshing) the soul. The decrees of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. (Psalm 19:9-10)
God’s presence and provision of refreshment.
Psalm 23:1-3 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he refreshes my soul.
The Holy Spirit - Isaiah 44:3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.
In regards to Jesus redeeming His people and salvation to mankind-Jeremiah 31:25, I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.”
In Repentance and a life of worship unto God
Acts 3:19-20 19 Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. 20 Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah.
Proverbs 3:7-8 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.
In Serving and Fellowship with other believers
Proverbs 11:25 A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.
Philemon 1:7 Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.
Romans 15:32 so that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.
Closing and Prayer
Lord, stir up a hunger and thirst for you. Stir up a greater hunger and thirst for you.
Discussion:
What stuck out to you from Psalm 42?
How can you tell you’re in a spiritual rut with God?
Have you ever noticed you weren’t hungry for God? What was it like and what did you do to get through it?
How can we spoil our appetite for God?
How do we stir up a hunger and thirst for God again?
Lastly, what stuck out to you from this sermon?
The most important decision you will ever make!
Are you ready to experience salvation and be transformed we encourage you to say a simple prayer like this from your heart: Dear God, I acknowledge and admit I have sinned. I see my need for Jesus Christ. I believe in Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I believe I am forgiven and cleansed of my sin by His death. I also believe I have eternal life because of His resurrection from the dead. I repent, I turn away from my old ways and I choose to live my life to worship you and follow Jesus, amen!
We would love to know if you made the decision to accept this wonderful gift from God. Let us know here.
Pray Together
We hoped you found this AFTER THE SERMON discussion helpful for your walk with Jesus. We pray you can find ways to apply it this week!