Step One: Surrender To God

Come on. Hey, you may remember that metaphor from the conflicted series, which is just this idea that while a lot of animals run from the storm, the buffalo is said to turn into the storm and move toward the storm, which is to go through the storm so it minimizes the time in the storm while other animals will go as they run from the storm. The storm catches up and they stay in the storm longer. My grandparents had a dairy farm, it was about 15 minutes from a house growing up, and I would go stay with them and I'd see them about once a week out there and that was an interesting life. They would get up at 3 a.m. every day and go milk to cows. I can remember one particular day where there was this hail storm said to be coming to this small farming community, and a softball-sized hail was coming, and my grandfather said to my uncle, "Hey, we need to bring the cows in." So, as my uncle said, that's going to be difficult to do because we just released them in the pasture and they're grazing and they're not going to want to walk away from that green grass. So, my grandfather left on the four-wheeler, my uncle left on a horse, and they were trying to bring in the cows, but were struggling to do so because the thing that they wanted in front of them was keeping them from getting the protection that they needed. That is a great picture of how we handle addictions and our sin nature in our life. There's something in front of us that we want, that we don't want to give up, and if people call us from it, sometimes it can make us angry. We can hope that we don't have to have conversations that the Holy Spirit would say that we should have, and we remain distracted by our own addictions and sin nature rather than getting the help, protection, and freedom that we need rather than turning toward the storm to go to the storm and through the storm. What is that turning like? If there's something in front of you that you want, that your sin nature desires and you turn, right, that's repentance. It's a great picture of repentance.

Another word that I would offer you today is surrender, this idea that I can't. I'm not strong enough to defeat this thing that I've invited into my life. I need help. Right about now, we all, you, need to be thinking, what is that thing for you? And so, for some, it may be gambling, it may be alcohol, it may be nicotine, it may be pornography, sexual addiction, it could be control, it could be approval of man, approval of others needing people to like you, it could be attention, it could be shopping, moving further into debt, or maybe you have enough resources, you're just a really poor steward of them. And it insulates you from you actually thinking you have a problem because you have more than enough. What is that thing for you? Everybody here has it. And if you, at this moment, are like, man, I just have no idea, you have what we call a blind spot. And you want to ask those around you, hey, what is that for me? And the part of you that doesn't want to ask those around you, that's the part of you that's holding onto that thing that you don't want to give up. Because who wants to hear the people that they love most tell them, hey, you really struggle with control. And you over-index these aspects of our lives. And you seek to control things. Nobody wants to hear that, right? But we need to have a death grip on what that is for us. And so we're in this series, right, how to be well. That bumper asked the question that Jesus asked often in the gospels, do you want to get well? And if you're thinking, hey, not super excited about this series for me, let me just say, you're going to want to raise up as a minister of the gospel because we, your church, are asking that you would do life with others in life group.

And you're going to have to be really good at helping other people in your life group minister to and through things that they're stuck in, that they're addicted to. And so you have to be that person who speaks the truth in love, we truth in love from last week to have really hard conversations, to say to someone, hey, I want to love you enough to say, I think you're stuck. that there is nothing other than what is naturally beneficial for us, that the Scripture calls us to, a relationship with Christ, that we're to be addicted to, that we're to be stuck in. And when we are, it can be a gateway, a doorway, a foothold which can become a stronghold for the enemy in our lives. It can hold us back from everything that Christ has for us. And so as we move in this series, we're really going to cover the 12 steps of regeneration. Regeneration is a step-based recovery ministry. It was founded in part by our dear friend and pastor, John Elmore, here. And it's one of the most amazing ministries where people are finding freedom every single week. And so this is going to be step one, two, and three, the message today. I'm going to be in Romans chapter 7, if you want to turn there. And as we talk about surrendering to God, and I would just say to you, upfront, hi. My name is Jonathan Pecluta, and I have a new life in Christ, and I'm in recovery for lust, materialism, pride, and control. What you just heard from are some of the healthiest people in our church, because they're being discipled in a ministry where they're learning to heal themselves and to help others heal. They're being trained up in God's Word. And this series is not so you think, oh, great, now I don't have to go to a region. No, it's actually an invitation for you to do so. That you would get a commercial over the next few Sundays, but that you might actually show up Monday nights at 6.30. Today, as we move through the Scripture, I'll spend most of my time in Romans 7. I'm going to call you to admit that you're powerless. That's I can't. I'm going to call you to believe that God is powerful. That's God can. And before you leave here at a moment, I want to call us to trust Him with everything that we would say I trust Him. I'm going to be in verses 18 through 25. This is quite possibly the most relatable passage of Scripture in all of the Bible, Genesis to Revelation. When I read it to you, it's probably going to feel like I heard you in your car or read your thoughts as Paul just wrestles. Romans 7 is the storm right before the beautiful sunrise of Romans 8. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those of us who are in

Christ Jesus. And Romans 8 is this beautiful passage of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit working together to bring about your sanctification to get to this moment where it says there's nothing in all of creation, neither height nor depth, nor all the rulers and principalities. There are any strength on earth that can separate you from the love of God. But before we get there, we have to watch Paul wrestle. This is what it says. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I don't want to do, this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work. Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law. I see benefits to the instruction that He's given me, but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am. Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God who delivers me through Jesus Christ, our Lord. As I read that I'm confident it resonates deeply with many of you. Why do I do what I don't want to do, the good I want to do, I don't do and the bad that I don't want to do, I keep doing, I keep calling and I keep going back, clicking the hashtag. Yet again I find myself making another purchase of feeding the very things going back to the same place, the bar at the club. How do I keep going back there? Again on the website, another purchase, the box shows up. I don't even remember what I bought. What is wrong with me? Who's going to save me from this? And you either, it either resonates with you deeply. Or you're an absolute miserable minister of the gospel. Because if you can't meet with someone and be like, hey, I get it, like your struggle's not my struggle,

but my struggle is this and I can relate to your struggle in this way, that makes you a great minister of the gospel. So you really want to have a death grip on how you struggle. Right about now, it's the only way you'll get the most of this series. And what you see here is what I'll call the four D's. You see the desire within Paul that he doesn't want and that desire that he doesn't want drives him to defeat. He feels defeated. And so he cries out in desperation, who will save me? And then you see the deliverance, praise be to the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. But I want to bring you to one phrase, and I want you to underline it right there in verse 18 at the end. But I cannot carry it out. I want to do good, but I cannot carry it out. And the first step of regeneration is to admit that you are powerless. These are the two words I can't. So let's say it together on three, one, two, three. The law, it's good. The law shows me that I can't keep the law. I get the instruction and yet I find myself tiptoeing over the line. Again, I'm driving down 84. The speed limit is 60. I see the police officer. I glance down. I'm going 65. The law has shown me that I am now breaking the law. So I pump the brakes. It's good to have accountability. It's good to be reminded of what the law is. And yet again, I'm going down 84, going 65.

What is wrong with me? How did this happen? When I talk about the law, I'm talking about God's law. I'm wearing myself out, trying to be righteous enough for you, God. Sermon on the Mount, you can't. You need a Savior. You need someone to save you. So you have to get to this place, not boasting of your own righteousness, but really a deep understanding of left to myself. I'm only unrighteous. If I kept the rules by my own strength, I'd only be self-righteous. I'd be so arrogant, boasting in my own abilities. Intolerable. By others in conversation, no one would want to be around me. I'd be prideful, narcissistic. Self-focused. And so the call is for us to surrender. And we wear ourselves out, like we're stuck in a spider web, or we're stuck in quicksand. The more we strive, the more we try to break free, we just sink faster. We just get more entangled. We need someone, an external force, to rescue us. And I'll illustrate it for you in this way. It's the lie of one last time. Because you go, you go free, you've got the rules, you follow the rules, and then you step back into it. And you say, you know what? I'm going to call him one last time. I'm going to go there one last time.

I'm going to scroll reels one last time. I'm going to buy that one last time. I'm going to drink that one last time, chew that, snort that, smoke that one last time, look at it one last time. And what you don't understand about the sin nature is, when it's fed, it grows stronger. And so the next time makes the next time more difficult. And one last time makes the next time more difficult. So it's always a lie without exception. There is no one last time. It's just the step to the next time, and the next time, and the next time since the fifth grade. You lift your head up and you're like, oh, this isn't even a struggle anymore. I've just been swept away. I defend it, justify it, rationalize it, make sense of it, argue with others about it. I now need it. It's a part of who I am. Last summer I went on a trip with some guys, guys trip to the beach and my friend Bo and I were sitting there on the shore as our friends were attempting to surf and we saw a man where we were that had notorious riptides, rip currents. We saw a man swimming just like with all of his might and I was like, "Hey, you see that guy?" I was like, "Yeah, I've been watching him." I was like, "You think he's doing that on purpose?" I mean, he just seemed to vigorously be swimming but not really going anywhere and so we start watching him. I was like, "Yeah, I don't know. Is he struggling?

Does he need help? I'm not sure." And then you just saw this man stop swimming and just go like this. And yell something that we couldn't tell what it was. And my friend Bo, who's faster than me, just reacted and he runs to the lifeguard stand and he gets that little buoy orange thing and it with this attached to the rope and then he just David Hasselhoff's down the beach and he gets out there in the ocean and he just chunks that thing and it lands right. It's just like art's just soaring in over where that guy is and it lands right behind him as he just goes under and sinks and I'm watching and my heart sinks. He just gave up and then you saw his hand come out of the water and his fingers just wrap around the side of that buoy and he held on with all he had as my buddy Bo just slowly pulled him to shore and he gets to shore and now we're all over there and we stand him up and he just falls over. He can't stand, he can't speak, he's got nothing left, completely lifeless. All of his energy was used on fighting that current. And so it wasn't that he drowned, it wasn't that he took on water, it's just that he just completely utterly exhausted himself trying to get out of it by himself. Praise God he waved at some point that hand and said I can't do it by myself because that was our signal. We were watching but we didn't know, we weren't sure, we weren't sure he was struggling. It took him saying hey I'm struggling that he was able to get the help he needed at just I mean two seconds later he's dead. You've got three options. You can keep fighting it until you're utterly exhausted, you can give up fighting it and be swept away by it or you can yell for help until somebody helps you. You have no other options, those are the only options. And if somebody is in your life yelling for help or if somebody is in your life who should be yelling for help I need you to be courageous enough to say hey sit down. You have a problem, let's talk about it.

We got to get you well man, you need help. And so the scripture is calling us to surrender to God but here in our context surrendering to God starts by bringing his people in around you and getting the help you need. He says what it looks like, what a wretched man I am. Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death, thanks be to God who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord, who, who will rescue me, not what, not what self-help book, can I read not what supplement or pill, can I take what peptide or program, can I get on, who will rescue me? And you say well wait a minute, are you talking about regeneration in that program, regeneration is a program that's going to point you to the who. A bunch of people coming around you saying here's the who, here's who will rescue you, let us get you to the who. And so the second step is believe God is all powerful. This is God can. Let's say it together on three, one, two, three. Believe God is all powerful. How powerful. Is he powerful enough to save your unbelieving family member who thinks you're ridiculous, They voted different than you, and they think you're totally wasting your... and sing songs to an invisible God, you're so pathetic. Is he powerful enough to save them? Is he powerful enough to move in and through your obedience when you have a hard conversation and you sit someone down and you say, listen, I need you to look at me, you're in sin. What you're doing is wrong and you need to stop. And in your mind, you know they're gonna say, what, how dare you, I'm so hurt by you, I can't believe you. Is he powerful enough to move in and through your words so that they go, you're right. You're right, will you help me?

And maybe you've done that 27 times. Is he powerful enough to move on the 28th time? To say, this is the one that I'm gonna use, I'm gonna operate in your obedience to help you. And is he powerful enough, the same one who raised Jesus from the dead, the same God who resurrected our Lord and Savior on the third day? Is he powerful enough to help you stop the thing that you thought would never stop? Is he that powerful? Let's talk about him. Psalm 103 says, this is him, the God we're talking about. God can, praise the Lord my soul and forget not all his benefits, he has benefits. Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases. Who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion. Who satisfies your desires with good things so that your mouth is renewed like, so that your youth is renewed like the Eagles. He forgives, he heals, he redeems, he crowns, he satisfies, he renews, and you can't do any of those things. You can't forgive yourself, you can't heal yourself, you can't redeem yourself, you can't crown yourself, you can't satisfy yourself in any kind of meaningful way as you can't renew yourself. I think about my own addictions, what is a weird place? I never realized what a weird place it is till we go to another church. I'm like, wow, our church is so weird

that we just have no curtain. There's nothing behind that people are transparent and pastors on this stage talk about their own struggles. And people say, "Wait, why do you do that?" Because pastors talk about their own struggles or they lie, there's no other option. That's why it's just of the two options that take honesty. And so for me, what that look like is finding alcohol early, starting to party early, smoking weed early on, college weed wasn't enough, it was Coke, it was Molly, right? And then throw in the sex and then throw in the pornography. And then I graduate from college and it's the love of money and it's the worship of self and narcissism and build my empire. And I'll just tell you that a lot of those things I just said, I could pick up and put down, right? I could smoke weed one day and say, I never need to do that again. Pornography, on the other hand, I grit my soul. I mean, I would have told you, hey, I'm gonna struggle in this way for the rest of my life. This is never going away. I knew, I had admitted defeat in a different kind of way. I surrendered not to help, I surrendered to it. I'm like, this is always gonna be there. I'll never not be able to do this. And then I get in the context of community and start going through the regeneration principles

in the context of community to get to a place where I actually grow through it, get to go through it and get to step eight and realize, you know what? I'm seeing people every single week find freedom from the very same things that I feel stuck in. And I'm like, I think freedom is possible. And that becomes, when God shows you that freedom is possible, everything begins to change. You realize, I can't do this on my own. I need God to save me. I need God to help me. The way I illustrate it is one of my favorite stories to tell is, my dad, we also grew up on a farm and my dad, he had this big long bed, extended cab, Chevrolet pickup truck, and it was standard, it was manual. And when we would go on vacation, and when I turn 16 you better believe it's like it's game time it's go time and I'm taking his long bed you know extended cab super not sexy Chevrolet pickup truck with the manual all beat up on the side because he pulled a goose neck trailer with and I'm taking that thing on the beach and I would drive about a half a mile before I get stuck there's something about the shifting on the sand I couldn't figure out and I and I wish I could tell you this happened one time but it happened many times and I would shift into first and I'd spend the tires and I'd shift into reverse and I'd spend the tires and I'd shift back into first and my buddy Travis will be right beside me and he's like you want me to go get your dad I'm like no you don't know no we're gonna we're gonna do this you know and I would do that

until that axle was just resting on the sand and those tires were just freely spinning there was no sand around him and I'm like hey go get my dad and he would go and he'd do that walk a shame and go back to the hotel and my dad would walk down that boardwalk and walk down that beach and you know just he I can remember it like he was yesterday and he had a bench seat there in the front standard right there in the middle the stick shift and he'd open that driver door move over boy and he'd get in there and he would put it in reverse and he'd give it a little bit of gas after he walked around and like kicked some sand around he he'd get in there and he put in reverse give it a little gas he put it in first gear and he just drive off and I'm like how did you do that you know it's like magic I'm like how in the world did you just do that and he did it multiple times there was and I you know at the end of the day I got to get to this place where like I don't know what I'm doing I need to get my father and I think that has to be multiplied throughout our body right now I can't fix this on my own I am going to need the power and the strength and the ability and the sovereignty the one who will save me from this body of death what a wretched man I am praise be to god it's the one who forgives heals redeems crowns satisfies renews we got to turn to him and say help me you've got to help me god I want you to know third step is you can trust him with everything you can trust him with everything so this is the I trust him I trust him and so let's say that together on three one two three you can trust god with everything we're not deist okay a deist the theological framework of a deist is that you believe in a god big guy in the sky

you know there's there's a god he created everything right and then he wound the watch you know he put the planets and everything in place he wound it up and he said all right you guys figure it out let's see how you do we have a relationship with the creator of the heavens the earth when Jesus died the veil was torn introducing us to the Father so that we can communicate with him at any moment you can talk to your dad at any moment and you can trust him with everything and he's so much better at life than you are he's so much better at everything that you think that you're struggling with he's better than you are and he knows how you can be free and he desires it for you you got to believe that like hey ask him ask him whatever it is eating disorder you're throwing up your food you you're you're you're stuck on some substance you know you're you're stuck on doing something looking at something watching something going somewhere thinking something control self-righteousness people pleasing say hey god do you want me to be free from this ask him god do you want me do you want do you want like is it even your desire that I would be free from this and then if he says yes see can you help me can can you help me be free from this first verse I ever memorized it's Proverbs three five and six trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding but in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your pass straight the way that it says it here is trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding and all your ways submit to him which I like better. And He will make your path straight in everything. that desires things for me that are not good for me.

So, I'm going to lean not on my own logic, my own pragmatism, and I'm going to say, "God, what is it that you want for me?" And then he begins to direct your paths. You can trust him. Listen, this is probably the hardest thing for you to believe, because I think what we fight here is doubt. I cannot trust him with everything. He wants to make himself known to you so much more than you want to know him. He wants you to find freedom so much more than you want to be free. You can trust him. I heard this story this week, and so we just brought on 10 residents. One of those residents moved here to Waco, like moved his family to Waco to be a part of regeneration. And we are in staff prayer this week, and I always ask the staff, "Hey, where do you see God move? What do you see God move?" His own story is about just what God is doing. We just celebrate what God is doing around here and through you and all the things. I was about to transition, and he just was like real kind of humbly, "Hey, I think the Lord wants me to share this story with you all." And he goes, "I just want to disclaim. It's not about me. It's all him, but I think I'm supposed to share this with you all." And so I was like, "Oh, man, let's hear it." And so he said, "I've really been trying to learn how to hear the voice of God, which is a new practice for me." And so I'll just tell the story as he did. He said, "So I was sitting on the back patio at 9 p.m. two nights ago, and I'm just like Lord, I'm just so thankful for you bringing us here, thankful for what you're doing. And I want to hear from you.

Is there anything that you want me to know?" And I'm just practicing listening. And he said, "I just hear, plain as day, I want you to go to the grocery store and bless someone." And he's like, "But it's 9 p.m. at night. But a part of practicing listening to God is he's like, "I don't want to push back. I don't want to delay if I sense he's saying something. I just want to do it." So he goes inside and he talks to his wife, he said, "Hey, you're going to think I'm crazy, but I think the Lord wants us to go to the grocery store and bless someone." And she said, "Game on. Let's go." He showed up to kids. They drive to HEB, and he just said, "I sense it's someone specific that we're to find." So they start walking up and down the aisles like a madman, and they come to this family, this couple with these kids, and they're buying milk, and they look at each other, and they're like, "Oh, it's them." And so he goes up and he says, "Sir, I don't want to make this weird for you, but my wife and I, we believe that we're supposed to bless you." And the guy just fell out. I mean, just started weeping, and he just said, "Man, we came from church. We went to church earlier today. We have no food. We have no resources. We went and we prayed specifically for some kind of financial blessing that we could buy food, and the kids needed milk. So we came to the store and we began to load up the cart in faith, and we were able to find $2.00 and change around our house. We have $2.00 and then you walk up and say that, and I told him, I said, "Man, thank you so much for listening to God."

Not in going to the grocery store, but when he said, "Hey, you should tell them this story, because it stirred my affections and my trust in God hearing his story of faithfulness and really God's story of faithfulness." And I know that it stirs up skepticism and questions and, wait, they didn't have money, and they were buying. Like, what? Was that really how it happened? And then this idea that does God speak to us like that, because let's talk about it. Let's talk about it. My wife is one of the godliest women I've ever met in my entire life. And I spend a lot of time with her, and she has the Bible open on the kitchen table every day, and she prays more than anybody I know, and sometimes too long when I'm trying to get out the door, and she's a prayer warrior, and she would tell you, she's never heard God like that. And I would tell you, it's not because she lacks faith or belief, or she's doing anything wrong. I believe God speaks to different people in different ways. But I know all of us are like, "Man, I want to hear God like that. I want that story. I want him to tell me to do something." And it so obviously was him, by the way, that he answers the prayer, as I walk like Sometimes the reason you're not hearing God is because you're not listening when he's telling you to stop something. You're reading in his word and he's like, you know that relationships not good for you? You know that addiction is not good for you. You know that sin struggles not good for you, but you keep doing it.

And when you don't listen to God, when he's that clear, it's gonna be really difficult to hear him when he's giving you those more nuanced instructions. Go here, do this, talk to them. Because all the while he's like, stop that. And you're like, no, I don't want to. Do we trust him? Well, we trust him for salvation. But do we trust him in our struggles? Do we trust him to be the solution to the things that were stuck in? Do we trust him like that? So in summary, three declarations, I can't. God can, I trust him. And I think we should say those together. Okay, on three, one, two, three, I can't. God can, I trust him. One of the hardest things that we will ever do is watch someone bring pain to themselves and to their family by the thing that they're stuck in, that they don't want to walk away from, because it's what's right in front of them. And we're like, hey, come in here for protection, come in here for freedom, come in here for help. And they just get angry at you. And they just, they get mad at you and they don't want to be your friend anymore. They begin to create boundaries from you because you tried to help them. It's one of the hardest things we'll go through.

But I want to show you a story and it's fresh, man. It is really fresh, of someone who was so stuck in their addiction that their family had to come around them and say, listen, you have to listen to us this time. And they very reluctantly went to get help only to find a place of complete surrender. Would you listen to Debbie's story? I would hide food and act like I ate, and you lie, and you just try to cover it up and make it be a big secret. I was just kind of scared to be fat. I had a lot of family that was overweight, and I was just scared I would be without the genetics and stuff, and that's kind of where it started. The best way I can describe it is having the devil in your head 24/7. It's just coming to still kill and destroy your life, and that's exactly what this eating disorder has done for me. It's really on my relationship with my husband, and it isolates you, isolating me from my family. And it's just been really tough on our marriage. You know, workout seven hours a day doesn't eat. And I've just seen her decline. Monday, I was just in my house and in walks my brother, which is from Idaho. And I'm like, what in the world are you doing here? And then my whole family walks in, and I was immediately panicked, and they sat me down, and they each read me a letter. When somebody asks you to write your wife a note, telling her, you know, hey, I'm going to take your grandkids

away from you. You know, I mean, it's just a tough deal. And I thought this is rock bottom, but little did I know once I got to the eating disorder place, it was rock bottom, and I cried every single day for 28 days. It took about two weeks of fully surrendering, letting go of all the control and fully trusting in God. And he transformed me. I don't know how to say it, but it's an America. I did not ever, in a million years, think that I would be where I'm at right now. And the day I picked her up, I was… me a kiss and I'm like, you know, because when I dropped her off there I was at the bottom of her list. She's the lady that she used to be, you know. On the other side I've never been this happy, got all 20 years and it's just so freeing. I could tell she was excited, she got in the car and started telling me things that was not dabbing. I mean, she's like, I like hamburgers but I don't like cheese and I'm like, what are you talking about? I offered you $10,000 one night to eat a hamburger with us and you wouldn't take it. Oh well now, can we have that for the kiss? Yeah, and so now she's wanting to make the deal. I feel like my life has purpose again and I don't know how to explain it but it's the best feeling ever and I'm just really excited for the future for the first time. Because that was last week. Came home last week and you usually wouldn't share a story that fresh but it was such a change and when she said I had liked to share my story with the church I knew I've had a front row seat for the struggle and I was like, I mean before anybody approached the subject and it was just anger and resentment and isolation and frustration to go from that to I want to tell the entire church of my journey. In the last few days of rehab a 16 year old girl comes in and she just sits her down and says, listen, for decades this addiction has owned me and I do not want that for you. I wish I could talk to

myself at 16. I want you to get help right now and so she's taking her mess and making it her message and even her ministry but here's the deal. There's some of you here that are like, man, if I can only talk to Debbie, I want to talk to Debbie, I need to talk to my daughter or my sister or myself and here's what I say. No, no, no, no. Debbie found freedom on step nine at regeneration. She got to step nine and then the Lord used all of the pieces to bring her to a place where she realized that she need help. So if you want to talk to Debbie you go to regeneration because when Debbie comes to church, she's here at church, we're not going to make her the poster child of eating disorders, okay? That's not what we do here. You want to talk to Debbie or you want the help that Debbie's found, you show up Monday nights and maybe your deal and because I'm for the most of us it's not is not an eating disorder but whatever it is, you have to do this. You have to, like the buffalo, turn around and say, okay, I'm gonna face it, right? I'm gonna face it. I'm gonna get the help that I need. I'm gonna throw my hand and if you are in the life of someone who doesn't have the strength to raise their hand, I hope you have the courage to sit them down and say you need help. So we're gonna pray right now. I'm gonna invite you forward to pray for that person but you're not praying for them by name. You're praying for yourself to have the courage to talk to that person or you're praying for freedom from yourself and right now you're thinking should I go forward and the answer is absolutely yes. You're like well if Lord you tell me to go forward, I will go forward. You come forward and receive prayer right now Lord. We just ask for that courage for you to help us, for you to move in those ways. We thank you for the freedom that the gospel offers. Thank you for who you are and what you've done for us Lord. And so as a team comes up here to pray for people I just pray that you would bring the people forward for prayer. We love you in Jesus name. Amen.