Identity Series | Soul Reset

It's so good to see you today. Let me ask you this. I don't know what it's like in your house, but in our house, phone chargers just have a way of going missing, like socks in the dryer. Anybody else? Like, man, I won't be able to find my charger, and then I'm going and I'm asking the kids, like, do you have my charger? And they're always, I don't know if I've ever heard my kids admit to having my charger before ever, but they'll be like, no, this is my charger. And so then I look at the charger and I'm like, well, that looks exactly like my charger. It's just that when I had it, it didn't have a 90 degree angle bend in it with frays everywhere and, you know, fire hazard with a USB port or something on it. Like, man, it'd get frustrating losing your charger. How about this? You go to bed at night, you hook your phone up and you wake up the next morning and you thought it was charged, but it's not. Like, either the cord didn't go all the way in or the little thing that you propped the phone on, it wasn't in the sweet spot, so it didn't charge. So here you are, you got a phone, you got the whole day you got to go through. It's 40%, right? By lunchtime, it's 8%.

And then you know you've got to have that afternoon coffee to get you through the day. And so you get in line at Starbucks and you go to pay for your coffee with a little tap pay thing and then all of a sudden it dies, right? I mean, it's frustrating. Frustrating, or here's one that happens to me all the time. Like, you're on the phone all day, it's just the battery is just draining so quick. So then you're like, hey, I'm gonna get a quick little charge for 20 minutes, plug it in to get me through the rest of the day. And I mean, within five minutes of you taking it off the charger, it's in the red all over again, right? And there's something about that that is frustrating and I think the reason why it's frustrating is because we've all learned over time that a phone won't do what it's meant to do if it's not getting power to it. Like, it just won't function the way that it was designed to function if it doesn't have any power to it. And I don't know if you've ever thought about it this way, but I think that our spiritual lives are kind of like that too. Like, you and I can have a lot of the right tools, we can have the right apps in our life, right? We got the Bible and the Bible can give us the truth we need to be able to navigate our day,

we can have powerful worship services like we had today that just really kind of hit us in a deep way, we can have friendships that are inspiring us to be better people, they're challenging us when we're not really pulling our weight, we can even kind of devote our life to making an impact and a difference in the lives of others. But here's what I've noticed and tell me if you've noticed it in your life too, and that is that you can do all those things, you can have all the right apps, the right tools for the Christian walk, but if you're not making time to consistently connect with the power of God in your life, then what ends up happening is you end up kind of doing all these things that you hoped would make your life better, and they almost seem like they underperform, right? Like they promise that if you do these things, your life's gonna be a certain thing, and then you do these things and your life never gets there. And over time, what begins to happen is we start to get frustrated, our relationship with God starts to get dry, it's disconnected, we get just exhausted in trying to live this life of following Jesus. And maybe some of you are here today, and that's like right where you are. You can think about the things that you have in your life,

and there's a lot of good things, a lot of godly things that you have made a priority in your life, but you still walk into a place like this and you feel dry. Maybe you get into a worship service like this and you kind of see everybody else engaging, but you're like, what am I missing, right? And if that's you today, Today, you've picked a great Sunday to be here because we're going to lean into a topic today that I think that, I think you're going to leave today different than the way that you came in. So, if you're taking notes today, I've given today's title, Soul Reset. Turn to two people, tell them, Soul Reset. We're going to get our soul reset today. If you've got your Bibles, turn with me to Ephesians chapter 6, and we've been in this series navigating through this letter of Ephesians over the course of the summer, and next week is our final week in this series. But here's what I've kind of come to learn in my life and my journey with the Lord, that it's one thing for us to hear about the power of God. It's one thing for us to know that there's power in God, but it's a whole nother thing for us to actually plug into it, right? Like when life is busy, when there's distractions coming from all over the place, when the pressure is high and the peace is low, like it's easy for us to know that there's power there, but to still struggle to actually plug into it. And I think the Apostle Paul recognized that. And as he's writing this letter to the believers in Ephesus, he's trying to remind them here on the back end of the letter that without the power of God's presence in our life that eventually what's going to end up happening is we're going to become dry and lifeless. And here's the reason why we become dry and lifeless. It's because we end up trying to live the Christian life apart from Christ.

Like we try to do all the things that the Christian life says that we should do, but we do those things apart from an actual relationship with Jesus. And Paul recognized how difficult it will be to live life that way, and so he drops this statement in Ephesians chapter 6 verse 10 that I want to show you today. He says a final word. This is after he's talked about our identity in Christ. This is after he's talked about how to live that identity out in our everyday life, you know, chapters 4 through the beginning of 6. And now he's kind of shifting to the conclusion of his letter and he's like, listen, I got a final word that I want to leave you with. Essentially, what Paul is saying in this moment is like if you forget everything else that I've talked about up to this moment, don't forget this. And what Paul says is be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. I've read that verse, I've been following the Lord for probably 25 years, and I've read that verse a lot of times, and I've never noticed that that verse has two parts to it that are directly connected to the following eight or nine verses that Paul writes. You see, the first part of this verse, to be strong in the Lord, he is specifically referring to verses 11 through 17 about the armor of God. He's talking about how we be strong in the Lord is by clothing ourselves with the armor. We talked a little bit about that last week. I did a series on that about a year ago called Common Sense Solutions that you could check out on our YouTube feed. I think the link is in the tap dot as well. But he's kind of setting up like don't miss anything else, and he says the first part about being strong, and that word strong is the word empowered. It's the ability for us to be able to live out our identity and practice what our identity should look like in our everyday life. And he's like the way that we go about doing that is one, by putting on the armor of God in our life, but it's the second part that I've missed all these years. Like all these years I've looked at the armor of God and I've been...

Okay, I'm all about like the armor of God, and then I missed this part. And he said this, be strong, but this time it's in his mighty power. First part is connected to the armor. The second part of his mighty power is connected to the power source. It is whether our lives are gonna be connected to God in a relational kind of way. Essentially what Paul is saying here is that, listen, the armor matters in our life, but it's not enough. Like the armor's good, but it's not enough. Now I know that sounds like kind of a bold statement, so I want you to track with me for a second. In the military, when soldiers end up losing connection with command, there's a phrase that they say, calms down, right? I know that because I've watched a lot of military shows, not because I've been in the military. Calms down, right? Calms down. On the outside, they look ready for battle. Like they got all the gear on, their weapons are loaded, but in reality, they're vulnerable. They're vulnerable because without communication, they're equipped but exposed. And here's the reason why they're exposed. It's because they don't know what's ahead of them or where the enemy is coming from.

They're gonna have all the weapons, all the stuff, but if they get blindsided, it doesn't do any good. And spiritually speaking, many of us are in a calms down season and are alive. Like on the outside, we look like we're dressed for the fight. On the outside, we look like we've got it all together. We're showing up, we're doing what we believe all the right things are. We've got the right tools, the right apps that we have access to, but deep down inside, we're struggling. Deep down inside, we feel exhausted, drained, in many ways stuck, almost like you're trying to navigate the spiritual life like you're walking through knee-deep mud, right? Just trying to get one step in front of the other Some of you might even feel in this season like that phrase that Paul gave to his protege Timothy about fighting the good fight of faith. Like you may hear that phrase and you're deep down thinking, well, this good fight of faith, it is wearing me out. And friend, the reason why, most likely, is because your calms are down. You've got the armor on, you've got some of the armor, at least on, but you're not connected to the one that's giving the orders. And in this verse, Paul is trying to help them see and he's trying to help us see that just because we're equipped, it doesn't mean

that we're not exposed. And for many of you students, like high school students, going back to school, college students, going back to school, like many of you, there's a lot of things that you're doing that are right, but those things in the context of school minus connection with the father and being strong in his mighty power, those things don't sustain. Paul knows that. And so, he's like, if you miss everything else that I've talked about, don't miss how crucial this is, the armor and the connection to the father. And so, he gives you the armor, he gives you the connection to the father, and so he gives us this verse in verse 18, it's the next verse after the armor of God in verse 18, and it's how we live out, how we experience to be strong in his mighty power. strong in his mighty power is what Paul says here in verse 18. And he uses these six phrases, and these phrases are kind of like handles for us to hold onto in order for us to reset our soul. And here's what he says, he says, he says, you gotta pray in the spirit. Now what does that mean, pray in the spirit? The easiest way for me to explain that is if you're anything like me, your tendency when it comes to prayer

is to go into prayer with your long list of things that you need or you want in your life. And your prayer life really is only a result of the length of your wish list. That's as deep as it goes, is God I need this, God I need this, God I need you to come through in this, God I need you this. And we wonder why there's not a lot of depth when it comes to the power of God in our life. And what Paul's saying is like, no, don't pray from the flesh where it's all about your list. He's like, pray in the spirit where you are pushing aside your list for a moment and you're allowing the heart of the Father to pray through you. And you begin to pray not about you, but you begin to pray for your family and you're praying the heart of God for them, right? That is what praying in the spirit looks like. Jesus did that. In the Garden of Gethsemane, like before he went to the cross, he had this moment where he said, Father, not my will, but your will be done. That was the spirit praying through him in that moment because at the end of the day, his desire was when he began to feel the weight of the cross there was a moment, a cross point moment for Jesus where he was like, do we have any other options today

other than crucifixion on the cross? And Jesus has this moment where he suppresses, he lays that down and he's like, it's not about my will, but it's about yours. Paul says as we pray in the spirit, like we need to be praying it all times throughout the day. It's not just when we need something, but we're just throughout the day, we are praying in the spirit. He says on every occasion. Where the first part of at all times is referring to the hours of the day, on every occasion is referring to the seasons of our life. You know, Paul's saying pray in the spirit even when you're stressed. Pray in the spirit even when you don't understand like what to do next. Pray in the spirit when you're experiencing temptation, but also pray in the spirit when things are going well. Pray in the spirit when you're coming before a job interview or a promotion or no matter what the occasion is, pray in the spirit. And then he says this, he says stay alert. And I think this is a big one for all of us because the danger that we have in our life is that we often confuse peace for safety. That when nothing like, like we may not have everything we want in life,

but we're not experiencing any kind of major attack in our life and so we find ourselves kind of in this kind of stage where it's like, I mean, I didn't win a lottery or anything, but I'm not like, life's not falling apart either and we get to a place of safety there. And what Paul's saying is listen, you gotta stay alert. And the reason why we gotta stay alert is because I don't know if you've noticed this in your life, but Satan doesn't send calendar invites for his attacks on us, right? It's not like you get a pop-up on your map and it says accept spiritual attack or ignore. We don't get that kind of a warning and so Paul's like, we gotta stay alert. And then he says, be persistent. Like even in the season, if you haven't experienced a breakthrough, continue to be praying in the spirit. And then this one was kind of like. It kind of stood out to me because it was kind of surprising. Like all of these little phrases are really about, I guess, us. But then this next one is about praying for all the other believers. And I think this one's interesting because I think Paul is just reinforcing the idea that the Christian life isn't just about us. You know, we're not playing some solo sport where we do life on an island all by ourself. I mean, really, when you think about it, we're never more like Jesus than when we're interceding not for our needs but for other people. Like what does the Bible say in Romans 8, that he is at the right hand of the Father interceding for who?

For us. Did you know that? Like, did you know that Jesus is right now interceding for you? And Paul is inviting us on this journey where our life is no longer about ourselves but it's about the community of faith. And Paul wants us to see in this that, listen, the armor is great, that the armor equips us, but it's our prayer life that empowers us. And Paul's like, you need both. He's saying essentially that prayer isn't something that's optional in our life, that it's actually essential. That if you and I want a spiritual life that doesn't feel like it's just going through the motions, then the only way we're going to experience that, it's not going to be through coming to church more or more small groups or more serving, it's going to come through connecting ourself with the power and the presence of the Father. And so what do we do? Right? Like, you walk in today and you're like, Ryan, like, I'm here, and that's amazing, but what do I do with this dryness? What do I do with this, where I feel like I'm going through the motions with my faith? I got a little framework, a prayer framework that's 10 minutes that I want to walk you through real quick, 10 minutes to reset your soul. And if you'll do this consistently in your life, I guarantee you that you're going to start feeling the dryness and the exhaustion of just life beginning to dissipate. We're going to put this, it's on the TapDot. We're going to put it on social media too, so make sure and follow us so that you don't have to feel the pressure of having to take notes in this moment. But the first thing that we want to do, if we're going to reset, is we've got to return in worship. That means that we've got to pull away from the grind of life and return and have a moment where we begin to worship the Lord.

The way that I do that is I find a song, and I'll share some songs on social media this week, but I'll find a song that's a vertical song, meaning it's singing about who God is. And I won't come to this moment with my list. I'm coming to this moment just to be with the Father. And then you begin to pray the words of the song. So, like the third song that we did this morning, Who Else? If you're listening to that song in this moment, then you're taking these words like, who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There's no one but you, Jesus, and you're just taking this moment where you're letting those words be the prayer, the declaration of your life. And then as you go through that song of worship, then you transition into this moment where you begin to express gratitude. And here's the reason why gratitude is so important, that it shifts our focus from what's missing to what matters, right? Because you and I are really good at just focusing on what's missing in our life. And so, if we'll take this next moment and we'll just take a minute or two minutes and be thankful and grateful for all that God has done, like, God, thank you for the breath that's in my lungs today. God, thank you that I may be limping around, but I'm walking, and I thank you for food in my belly, I thank you for providing for my kids. I thank you for the car that I get to drive to work that I don't have to walk. It may not be the car that I want, but it's a car. I thank you for the blessing of family. I thank you for your grace and your mercy that's in my life that I, even though I keep coming back to you asking for forgiveness for the same things over and over again, God, you don't give me a second chance,

you give me another chance. And so Father, I just, I thank you for all that you've done in my life and you just have this moment of gratitude. And then after that, then you ask God to begin to search your heart. I take a moment where I'm like, Father, is there anything that's in me that is not pleasing to you? Is there an attitude that I respond to somebody the other day that I shouldn't have responded that way? Is there a sin that's in my life? Is there something that is not pleasing to you? And then as he begins to reveal that in your heart, then you ask the Lord to forgive you of that. And as you do that, then you extend an invitation to the Holy Spirit. And you say, Holy Spirit, be with me today. Everywhere that I go, guide my steps, guide my words, guide my thoughts, guide my actions, guide my reactions, right? Like give me peace when it feels like things are overwhelming. Give me the courage to not retreat or step back, but to lean in when you're calling me to do something that's uncomfortable. Like give me the wisdom for the decisions that I've gotta make today. And so you go through that. And then the last one is you just take a minute. Just take a minute to breathe. Slow everything down in the moment.

Don't say anything. Just be. And my therapist has coached me on this with a thing called box breathing. I don't know if you're familiar with that. But essentially what you do is it's four second little intervals, and you're gonna breathe in slowly, take four seconds. You're gonna hold your breath for four seconds. First time I did it, I thought I was gonna die. I was like, oh my gosh. You hold it for four seconds, and then you release it long for four seconds. And then before you breathe again, you hold for four, that was the other part. I thought I was gonna die. And you do that three to four times, and it's just, you just still. And it's just this moment that you've had this time with the Lord, and now you're just coming back to just being open in your ears. And I can't tell you how many times I've been in that moment. And I've heard the Lord whisper one thing to me. I love you. It's a pretty powerful phrase if you think about it. Despite all the stuff that we do, all the mistakes, all the times we get it wrong, and he still says, I love you. You know, this framework was kind of birthed out of,

I'm gonna close with this, was kind of birthed out of an experience that I had on sabbatical recently. I got about halfway through my sabbatical, and the Lord convicted me of something. And I don't know if you've ever experienced this in your life before, but it was a conviction, not as much that I had done. as much as it was an invitation to something better. And here's what he convicted me of. I had allowed myself to get so busy in doing things for God that I wasn't prioritizing being with God. And if you've ever been there, then you could probably identify with this. My interactions with God in prayer were more transactional than they were relational. And I tended to come to Him with the things that I needed rather than just coming to be with Him. And what was happening is that I was, and it's a slow process. It's not like it just hits you overnight, but it was just this process of getting drier and drier and drier, feeling more disconnected and disconnected. Like if you were here today and it was like, you're in this amazing worship atmosphere but you just feel cold and distant on the inside. I mean, that's, in a way, that's where I was. And the Lord brought me to this verse and I want to share this verse with you because it just kind of wrecked me.

In John chapter seven, verse 38, Jesus says this, that anyone who believes in me may come and drink. For the scriptures declare rivers of living water will flow from his heart, meaning Jesus. And I read that and that word may arrested my heart. And the reason why it arrested my heart was because I realized that the living water that Jesus was promising, that it was available, but not automatic. Like it was there, but it wasn't guaranteed. It's kind of like this, like, like they'll run pipes from the city or water into your house. It's full of water. It's full of pressure. It's ready to go, but it isn't until we turn the lever on the faucet that the water flows. And it was like this moment for me where Jesus was like, I have all this, I have all this living water and I just got to turn the faucet. I was saved. I was doing things for God. I had a heart for God. I wasn't dry because I didn't love him. I wasn't dry because I wasn't doing his will. I was dry because I wasn't coming to him enough for a drink. And I just wonder today, how many of you might've walked into this place

in a similar way? You've got all the right tools. You're doing all the things that look right on the outside, but you're dry. You're disconnected from the power of God, your life, you're showing up, you're doing the right things. But you're tired, empty, running on fumes. Maybe you've even been questioning whether this whole God thing works and what Paul is trying to help us see in this moment is that it's not just the armor. It's not just what you do. Because at the end of the day, that gives you religion and religion doesn't transform. Those tools coupled with the power of God in your life is what brings transformation. Friend, today, if you're anything like me, you've been saying, I need a break, I need a break, I need a break. Maybe it's not a break that you need. Maybe today you just need to make some room in your life to turn the faucet and to receive the living water.