You Got This

All right, well, welcome everybody to church, all our locations that are joining us. We're so glad that you're in church today, if you're online or at any one of our locations in the Twin Cities. How many are thankful for God's amazing love? Can I hear an amen? Amen. Pastor Nate says, anybody here love Jesus? Come on, somebody. Right, we love Jesus. Love what we're doing. I love that we are jumping into our summer series, and this is week two of our series. The future is ancient, Seven Churches of Revelation. This Sunday, we're looking at Smyrna, and it's just, it's so exciting what we get to be a part of across our church. Again, thankful for God's goodness, and excited for everything that he has with us. So thanks so much for being part of worship today. It's just truly, truly incredible. The title of this message, as we talk about the seven churches and the Church of Smyrna, is You Got This. Turn to the person next to you and say, you got this. You got this. That is a encouraging statement, right? You got this. It's something that is just saying,

hey, this is something that we can do, and that you can do, and that we can do together. And last week was week one of our series, and Pastor Nate kicked it off. He did a lot of history as he taught about the first church, and he talked about the foundations of Revelation, the history, kind of how all this fits together. If you missed that, watch it. If you've already seen it, watch it again, because it'll serve as a great foundation for this seven-week series, as we look at the amazing churches of Revelation. Pastor Nate mentioned our trip to Turkey that Jane and I were able to be a part of as well. And it was truly amazing. That's where we got to experience the seven churches of Revelation. And being there is so incredible. And you gotta go to the Holy Land. You gotta go to Greece and Rome and Turkey. You gotta experience, because it is life-changing. So I encourage you to be a part of those things. But something happened in every team member that was in Turkey. And one of the things that happened to me as I was just learning more and more and more about the seven churches of Revelation was I was just reminded of God's amazing love for his church. God's amazing love for his church.

Everybody say amazing. It is truly, truly amazing. Even as we unpack the church of Smyrna and look at some of the truths that we're gonna find here, we're gonna kinda, I hope you're reminded in today's message at all of our locations, I hope you're reminded about God's amazing love for his church and how incredible it is, how strong it is, how amazing it is. And so God just highly values the church. And before I jump in too much, too much content, I wanna say this and ask this question. How many are thankful that God is in the move, God is on the move in this church, in our church? Can I hear an amen? Come on, louder than that, we can celebrate that. Elk River, Maple Grove, Lakeville, Spring Lake Park, God is on the move and we are thankful to God. Say to God be the glory. One more time, to God be the glory. We celebrate that. So just to highlight just two areas of how God is on the move because we wanna celebrate what God is doing. Just January through May, just the first five months of our church, we have seen 787 people commit their lives to Christ. Come on somebody, that is amazing. And that represents Spring Lake Park and Elk River and Maple Grove and Lakeville and there's other places.

These are people that we actually know have responded, have raised their hand, 787 people. Just January through May, many of you know we've had some great Kingdom Builder weekends one day to feed the world. Again, just five months into this year, we have given, above our tithe generously, $943,600 to Kingdom Builders. And so yeah, we can clap for that. Again, that represents all Emmanuel locations so thank you for being generous. But just know, it was just several years ago that we were praying that we would hit a goal for the entire year of a million dollars given away, right? And look what God is doing. So even as we look at the seven churches and we look at today a church that probably if you're in church, it might be the first time you've heard of this church, the Church of Smyrna. We're gonna see God's heart for how special, how important it is, how God just wants us to fully understand what he wants us to hear about his heart for the church. So we're gonna be excited about God's word. Everybody say let's go. I want you to lean in because God's word is truly amazing. And I hope if you're taking notes, you can do that and look at the Emmanuel app and use that as a resource. Use your paper Bibles, use your notepads,

use whatever it is that you take notes. that will be an incredible blessing. Because I think there's gonna be, in this message, I know God has been teaching me, and there's gonna be a few kind of takeaways that are for all the churches that we see, and then we're gonna kind of drill down and look specifically at the church of Smyrna as well. And so I think you're gonna wanna just maybe journal a few things. God may speak to your heart. So Revelation chapter two in verse eight says this. Write this letter to the angel of the church in Smyrna. This is the message from the one who is the first and the last, who was dead but is now alive. Everybody say alive. Jesus is alive. I know about your suffering and your poverty. I know about your suffering and your poverty, but you are rich. But you are rich. I know the blasphemy of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan. Don't be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you. You will suffer for 10 days. But if you remain faithful, even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life.

Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. Whoever is victorious will not be harmed by the second death. Man, there's a lot of deep truths in here, in this passage, and there's so much to look at. But first, I wanna kinda jump in and talk about what I would just say is an overview thought, okay? Just an overview thought that what I'm learning, and some of this, Pastor Nate shared some other areas last week, I believe different one of our pastors will share in different weeks, and there's so much content, so much great thoughts here. So I just wanna share a couple overview thoughts. If you were to look at the seven churches, you would see, and I'm gonna highlight one of them in just a moment, you would see where there's these common things that Jesus speaks to all seven churches, and these common themes, and there's one specific phrase. Again, we'll talk about that in just a moment. But then there's also unique things, unique things. Last week, what we learned about Ephesus, and this week, what we're gonna learn about Smyrna. There's unique, special things that Jesus speaks as well. And so as we study this summer, these seven churches of Revelation, and it's amazing because as we look at it, we're gonna see, wow, look at this kinda trend, this theme that Jesus speaks about,

and then look about how when he visits and speaks just to one church, he also has specific instruction. How many are thankful that God loves the entire church? Come on, somebody, right? His church, he loves it. How many are also thankful that God loves your church, and our church? He has a message and a vision for Emmanuel that's part of this big vision, but he also has special, exciting things for us, and I love that, just like he does for our own lives as well. So let me just give you a couple overview thoughts. This is what I call catching God's heart for all seven churches. Here, just overview thoughts here, all right? Here we go, the first one is this. As a church, you are so important. As a church, this is an overall thought Jesus is saying, you are so important. Tell the person next to you, you're important. We are all important. Sometimes, like, that's really good, but we need to hear that, church. We need to hear that. To God, in God's eyes, Jesus is saying, as a church, you're super important. I see greatness in you. He's kinda like, you got this. You are important.

You can do this. I love you, and Jesus is reaffirming that, that our importance, you are so important. Here's the second bullet point. Don't lose sight of what is most important. We learned some of that last week in week one of this series. We'll see some of that. We already read it in Revelation 2 as we look at the church of Smyrna. Don't lose sight of what's most important. We'll see this in the next several weeks as well. There's this theme. Hey, church, don't lose sight of what's most important. Jesus is saying, Emmanuel, don't lose sight of what's most important. It's really, really important that when we study God's Word, like we are this summer, and we see these truths that Jesus shares with us, that we don't lose sight of what's most important. Amen, church? Here's the third one. Third overview thought is this. Listen and follow the Spirit's leading. Listen and follow the Spirit's leading. It's so important that we say that. Listen and follow the Spirit's leading. Just, I'm gonna tie it to this. If you study all seven of these churches, it's not a, it's just a couple chapters

of the book of Revelation. There's just a handful of verses that talk about each church, and that's why it's powerful, but there's all this content in these small amount of verses. But you will notice there is one phrase, just one, everybody say just one. There's just one phrase that Jesus shares with all seven churches. One phrase. One phrase, church. How many would agree that that must be a pretty important phrase, right? He says this one phrase to everybody that's in the book of Revelation, all seven churches, he says this one phrase to everybody at Emmanuel, everybody that's part of weekend worship this weekend, this one phrase, he basically says this phrase, hear and listen to the Holy Spirit. Every church, you can check me on this later if you want, you can read every, you can read about it. Every church, he says the phrase, hear and listen to the Holy Spirit. Hear and listen to the Holy Spirit. We talk about that quite frequently, but it's, this is also, we know a personal decision, that we hear and listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying. I'm gonna, I wanna unpack that just for a few moments

as we wrap up the message in a few moments, I wanted to highlight it at this church, at this moment, because it's so, so important that Jesus shared it with all seven churches. So to the Church of Smyrna, it's pretty unique. There's two churches, Smyrna and Philadelphia, that Jesus has mostly affirmation, encouragement, and then some instructions about going forward. The other five churches, even as we read last week and we'll study going forward as well, the other five, there's words of correction in there as well. Words of I want you to stop doing this and I want you to start doing this. And so it's, as Pastor Nate shared last week, it's a heart of loving correction, but it is correction. Let's go this way. Let's remember what God has called us to do. And so Smyrna's one of these churches, hear me, that is, it's really, I believe Jesus is saying to the Church of Smyrna, you got this. You got this. And if you've ever been around people and they've said it to you, maybe in a sporting event or a challenge or a project you're taking on or somebody that you look up to looks at you in the eyes and says, you got this. You can do this. I really believe that's what Jesus is saying to us, Emanuel. He's saying, Emanuel, you got this.

You can do this. You say, I don't know what God tells me to do this. I read this in the Bible. I saw the video testimony of the stages and just what God is doing in their life in generosity. God would say to all of us, you got this. You got this. With my help, you can do what I have called you to do. Amen, church? You can do it. So just know that that part of affirmation is so important. Matthew 25 speaks to this. It says, the servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest and I have earned five more. The master was full of praise. Look at this statement. Well done. Everybody say well done. Well done, my good and faithful servant. You've been faithful in handling the small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let's celebrate together, amen? There's these moments when you hear that well done, well done, great job, I see greatness in you. There's a phrase in leadership that's called I see in you. When somebody says you got this, there's a little bit of that I see in you. I see in you what God can do.

And how many know when somebody says to us, hey, well done, great job, how many know it feels really good, right? Amen, it does. And I love that we wanna catch this heart of the Church of Smyrna before we talk about some of the challenges that Jesus reminds them about, that we understand there's an encouragement that God is speaking over them. It speaks so, so strongly. Quick example of this. Let me show you a picture of me and my grandson. This is my oldest grandson. Two weeks ago, we are at his first traveling baseball game. So I believe he's 10 years old. I shouldn't say I believe, but I am saying I believe. I believe he's 10 years old, and they just became part of traveling baseball. And so we went to watch him play, and it was pretty exciting. It was fun to see. And his team lost 41 to two. Yeah, I'm not, no exaggeration. The first inning took like an hour and a half. It was so, it was painful. able to watch 41 to two. And I went to another game just a week ago and they only lost 21 to four. So come on somebody, progress is happening. The problem is the season's over next week.

But anyways, on his team, there was only one person that hit a double. Guess who it was? It was my grandson, right? Yeah. So the game's over and they seem to handle the beating they took pretty well. And I was pretty amazed. How many of you know some of the parents were a little more mad than the kids were, right? But afterwards, I went over and his name's Archer. I said, Archer, you did so great. Man, you killed it. And he gets this smile on his face because number one, by the way, did I say he was the only person that hit a double, right? Come on, did I say that? But it was one of those things where when you tell somebody that word of encouragement, even in the midst of walking through some tough things, there's some warmth and affirmation that comes and a strength that rises up in people that's really, really, really super special. And so just like the Church of Smyrna, Jesus is saying, hey church, you are doing so many things right. You're doing so many things right. How many believe that just a month ago, just a month ago, when we had Convoy of Hope and One Day to Feed the World

at all four Emmanuel locations, and our church just opened up with a heart of generosity and gave over a quarter of a million dollars in one day, how many of you think Jesus looked down and said, wow, you're doing something right, right? So just know, no matter what a location you're a part of, all of our locations, Jesus is saying that yes, there might be improvement we need to make as all of us do, but wow, this feels really, really good. Well done, great job. It's so amazing. So here's what I wanna do. I wanna reread these verses of Revelation because it's just three or four verses and kind of drill down just a little bit more on them. So let's look at this together. It'll be up on the screen. Again, it's in your app as well. Revelation chapter two, verse eight. Write this letter to the angel of the church in Smyrna. This is the message from the one who is the first and the last, who is dead, but is now alive. Look at this with me, church. I know your suffering and your poverty, but you are rich. It's probably one of the most, could be, confusing phrases in this chapter. Like, what does that mean? Jesus says, I know about your suffering and I know about your poverty, but you are rich.

And I wonder how Jesus can look at somebody that is facing suffering and challenges and facing a season of lack or poverty and say to them that you are rich. And maybe we'll discover that answer. But I've been studying and I have thoughts about it. I don't know for sure, but it's still a powerful, interesting question. Then he says, I know the blasphemy of those that are opposing you. How many know opposition's just a part of life, right? And we'll read some more scripture that affirms that, even though it's difficult, it's part of life. They say they are Jews, but they are not because their synagogue belongs to Satan. If you ever thought Jesus doesn't say strong things, how many know Jesus says strong things? He talks about it. He says this is what he would classify this as. Then he says, don't be afraid of what you're about. What you're about to, everybody say about to. What you're about to suffer. That's never good news, is it? Right, you're spending time with Jesus, you're worshiping, and God says, drops this thought in your mind, hey, hang in there for what you're about to suffer. How many know you'd way rather hear a different phrase from God, right? Right?

I mean, just, sometimes that's just life, right? The devil will throw some of you into prison and he will try to test you. Look at the specificity here. You will suffer for 10 days, but if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life. Here's this phrase again. Anyone with ears to hear must listen. Everybody say must. Listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. Whoever's victorious will not be harmed by the second death. So let me just from this passage do a little history, a little learning, and I'm gonna classify it in a couple ways. I'm gonna talk about, because I don't believe I am that scholar. There are many scholars that know things and there's scholars that believe things. I'm gonna give you just a couple things about the area of Smyrna, the church of Smyrna. That is truly kind of what Bible scholars know and then what Bible scholars believe. And we can show you a couple pictures as I'm sharing these thoughts. You'll see the overview of the city, you'll see where it's at in proximity to the sea and just as I just share about it for a few moments. So here's what we believe many scholars know.

The first thing is this, Smyrna was considered a very wealthy city. It was considered a really wealthy city. You could tell by where it's at, you could tell by where the port is. It was about 40 miles north of Ephesus. And last week we heard about Ephesus. So it wasn't a long way. Imagine you're in the Twin Cities and you're driving to Albertville or you're driving to Duluth or that would be farther. You're driving to Rochester if you're in the South Metro or Northfield or you're driving up to Forest Lake. Just imagine that's the proximity of what's happening here and it's 40 miles north of Ephesus. So it was, and you could see this in the ruins. You could see where we are at. You could see some of the places where rich people had fancy spas, if you will, back in their day. And so it was a place that was considered a wealthy city, a port city, and people there kind of felt that pride in being in a wealthy city. The second thing that I think most scholars would say they know is that because it's a wealthy city, just track with me here, the church had many people of former, everybody say former, of former wealth in it. So when Jesus makes the statement that I know you're suffering and I know you're poverty,

but you are still rich. I won't teach on this because I don't, it's like another message, but I feel like Jesus is saying, I also want you to pivot how you think about rich. Come on, somebody, right? Jesus is like, I see wealth different than you see wealth. And I may want you to kind of pivot how you see this because he makes kind of that statement to them and the church had people in it that were people of former means, former wealth. And we know most of it was former because of some of the descriptions Jesus gave about what was happening there. Okay, the next part is this. Many scholars think or believe a couple things. So just, they wouldn't put their whole reputation on it, but they would think or believe this. Two things about this. Their suffering in the church of Smyrna was due to attacks from multiple groups opposing the Christian church. So that was their suffering. It was due to attacks from multiple places, multiple groups opposing the Christian church. And how many of us know at Emmanuel that we are not victims? Everybody say amen. Because God is with us. So we don't have a victim mentality.

We just have an awareness of the battle. Do you hear me? We don't have a victim mentality. We have an awareness of the battle. And awareness of the battle just says, I know there's gonna be opposing things that come against us. I know in my life and in our church and our city, government, whatever it might be, there will be things that rise up and kind of press back or fight against the things of God. So we don't have this woe is me, I can't handle this. No, God's saying you got this. We have an awareness of the challenges and the battle and we have an awareness of who the source of victory really is. That's what Jesus is trying to teach and share and help the church of Smyrna really, really understand. So that's the first kind of bullet point for their suffering was due to attack. Second one is what many think or believe. This is super cool and not everybody feels this way, but a number of scholars do. A key reason they were in poverty. Remember I said there's this challenging kind of strange phrase, in poverty, was they were believed to be very generous to those in need. The church in Smyrna was known to be, believed to be by some scholars and historians

as very generous to those in need. How many think that's a good thing? So when I started learning this, I thought, hey, this is the first New Testament church that does kingdom builders. Come on, somebody, right? It's so good. But they set this example of we are gonna have the backs of those closest to us in our community, those that are pursuing God. They had this, just like the Acts 2 church did. It's powerful, right? They went house to house and they shared with each other and they did all this stuff and there's so much in there and I love it. So I would just say, do we have a heart to give to those that are most in need? And if we do, praise the Lord, let's watch God use us. Because God wants to use us. You might say, well, I don't have as much as other people. It's not about how much. It's just about your heart. Maybe you have a little bit and that's where you start. That's okay too. It's really about our heart. And so it's so important. So let's make it practical from the Church of Smyrna. I wanna give you three words from Jesus to the Smyrna church, all right? Three words here.

We're gonna make it really practical. He basically gives them a word of affirmation. Everybody say affirmation. All locations say affirmation. So I've talked about that, this encouragement. He's given them affirmation that you've been doing this. You've been living as strong Christians. Way to go, you got this. It's so good. I'm so proud of you. Keep up the good work. It's a word of affirmation. The next word he gives them is a word of warning. It's a word of warning. It's clear, it's in Scripture. He basically says, hey, more challenges are coming. More challenges are coming. Don't shout me down on this one, church, right? But that's what he says. He says just be aware that more challenges, more difficulties are coming. And he doesn't say you are on your own. Jesus says he'll never leave us or forsake us. But this observation, this word from Jesus to the church is more challenges and difficulties are coming. Again, can I just say this as it's a practical moment in the message? All of us at Emanuel today, all of us at Emanuel worshiping, just know that there are challenging moments in our lives.

What we are called to do is hold onto Jesus, right? And trust Jesus, because he's so good to help us in that season and to bring us through that season. Amen? And so that is that affirmation. First word's that. Second word's warning. The third word is direction. Everybody say direction. Is there anybody here, I wanna ask you to raise your hands, that you don't like receiving direction? Is there anybody here, and I'm gonna ask you to raise your hand here, at all of our locations, you would much rather be the person giving direction. Can I see your hands, right? You are not being honest, and you know what happens when we lie, all right? I'm just saying. This is revelation we're talking about here right now. Direction. It's just one of those phrases from Jesus that he gives us. And Jesus, here's the direction he gives, and I believe it's so applicable to all of us at Emmanuel this weekend. It's applicable to this series, just like it was to the Church of Smyrna. The direction is basically remain faithful.

Everybody say remain. Remain faithful. And then he says, do not fear. Do not fear. Spring Lake Park, Elk River, Maple Grove, Lakeville, those joining us, worshiping online, do not fear. Remain faithful, and do not fear. Well, Pastor, I think it's more complicated than that. Well, just start with those two, okay? Remain faithful, and do not fear. If you would repeat these phrases out loud, I'll say them. If you'd repeat them back to me again, at all of our locations, please do this. Here's the first phrase, do not be afraid. Here's the second phrase, don't be afraid. Here's the third phrase, do not fear. Just those three are in the Bible 95 times. 95 times. Do you think we might need to hear it? Wow. So instead of thinking, oh, I'm not one of those people that ever battles fear. Let's push that pride aside and accept that, no, we do battle fear, and Jesus says, don't let it in. Don't let it stay. Do not fear. And he's telling the church of Smyrna, he's telling Emmanuel this weekend,

man, just remain faithful. Remain faithful in your relationships and your prayer life. Some of the things we'll talk about in a few moments, but just know that this is God's heart. He gives these three words, Jesus does, to the church of Smyrna. Affirmation, warning, and direction. I love that challenge. James chapter one says this. Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. Everybody say great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. I love it. One more reminder of Revelation two and verse 11 says this. Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. Anyone with ears to hear, again, I highlighted this earlier, and I wanna wrap up for a few moments on this idea. Must, with ears to hear, must listen, must understand what he is saying. Listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. Now, before I share these final thoughts, let me just say, I want you to notice, because this verse is just powerful as it appears in all seven,

but as he's talking to the church of Smyrna, notice the instruction is not, everybody say not. It's not to pray the Holy Spirit will speak. It's not that. It literally says the Holy Spirit is speaking to our church. Listen to it. So our prayer is not, oh, please, Holy Spirit, would you speak to us? And not in this instance. It is, the Holy Spirit is speaking. Listen and understand and respond to what the Holy Spirit's saying. So I love the clarity. I love the power of that. How many are thankful that God wants to speak to our church, right? He wants to speak to our lives. Yeah, you can clap, that's good. God wants to do that. So how do we hear and listen? I'm gonna finish up. I'm gonna go through these pretty quick. How do we hear and listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying? So let's look at this. Psalm 32 says, the Lord says, I will guide you along the pathway, on the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.

How do we hear and listen? I want you to notice something. It says, I will guide you and I will advise you. Emmanuel, God is saying, he'll take the lead. He'll take the lead. God says, I will advise you and I will guide you. And so it's not you and I making all the decisions. It's not you and I figuring out the best thing to do all the time. It's listening to the Holy Spirit and know that God wants to advise us. God wants to guide us. And so let's look at this, just four things really quick. This list could be longer and we could talk about it more, but if you want some really good, simple application, I believe this can be a blessing to any of us, no matter you're brand new to church or you've been in church a long time. So let's look at these four things. How do we hear and listen? Pastor Darren, tell us specifically how to do that. So let me just submit these to you. Number one is this, always keep God's word as your true north. Always keep God's word as your true north. Let me show you this picture of, that'll be familiar to some of us, of a compass. This is what true north means practically and this is what it looks like, where God's word is always the right direction.

Did you hear what I said? God's word is always the right direction. It's always the place we're supposed to go. It's so, so important. God's word has no equal. I'm so thankful for other resources of insight and wisdom and books and podcasts and different things. There's a lot of good stuff out there, but there is no equal to the word of God. God's word is our true north. And this next one will feed off of that, but I wanna give you a simple truth first. Increased reading results in increased listening. How do I do this? Here's a simple takeaway for this first bullet point. Increased reading results in increased listening. If you want to be able to listen, super practical, to what the Holy Spirit's guiding you to do, we gotta read God's word more. Just really simple, but it's so important, so vital. So always keep God's word as your true north. Here's the next one, avoid decision fatigue. Avoid decision fatigue. It's what I call it, just avoid decision fatigue. I'll talk about it here for just a second. How many of you know this? You may not know this, that most of us make 300 or more decisions every day, right? Every day, literally. Turn to the person next to you and say,

no wonder I'm tired, right? It just happens, right? I mean, that's a lot, 300. But when I say avoid decision fatigue, that's a real term of what's out there, just it happens, it's real. Here's what I would recommend underneath this. Utilize a predetermined yes. Utilize what I call a predetermined yes. Here's what a predetermined yes is. When God says it, and it's verified in his word, the Bible, my answer's gonna be yes. I've already decided it. I don't need to pray about it. I don't need to think it through. I don't need to read it in every single translation. It's in God's Word, and it's telling me to do it, and my answer is yes. Just a predetermined yes. I know that doesn't fit every area of our lives, but there's a few really important areas. Hey, God's Word clearly says this. So I'm not gonna agonize over why I should forgive, why I shouldn't forgive, why they don't deserve forgiveness. I'm just talking about forgiveness for a second. I'm just, no, God's Word says to forgive. So my predetermined yes is not to get lost in all the other stuff. It's to say, in the name of Jesus, I forgive that person. I let that go.

So it's a predetermined yes. I believe that could really, really help. Here's another thing, number three and number four. Number three is this, less asking, more listening. Less asking, more listening. I think it's a really, really good thing. And I'm talking about our prayer time. Our prayer times are so important, our devotion time. I would just say, make sure that you're asking less than you're listening. How do I do that? Some people ask me, Pastor Darren, what's the best time to have a personal devotion time? What's the best time to do it? My answer is always this. What is your best time of the day? If it's nights, if it's mornings, if it's whatever, it's whenever you're ready to hear from the Lord, whenever you're ready to study, whenever you're ready to read. But less asking, more listening. This might be on the screen as well. This is just a suggestion. You might say, give me a tool. Give me something to see if I can run with. Here's just a simple tool, suggestion. Right now in my prayer time, this is what I'm trying to do. It's what I call 30, 30, 40. 30, 30, 40. If I say 30, 30, 40.

So what I'm trying to do right now is 30%, 30% worship, 30%, Bible, 30% prayer. Just something. You may have another way, that's great. Less asking, more listening. Here's the fourth thing. Eyes, heart on eternity. How do I listen? How do I hear and follow the Holy Spirit's leading? Have my eyes and my heart fixed on eternity. What's really most important? What's really most important in your life, in the lives of those you love, focused on eternity? In a few moments, we'll close in prayer. Prayer teams will be down front later, and altars will be open. You can pray and seek God's face for a few minutes if you want to. Pray and focus on what's most important. We have 7,000 unreached people groups still in our world. Pray for them. We have lost prodigal sons and prodigal daughters, and we have loved ones that need healing. Pray for those. Our jobs are important, our money's important. Those things are important, but what's most important, that's what we should really, really be praying for. So as we wrap up, I want you to say the phrase again, you got this, one, two, three, you got this. The Church of Smyrna needed to hear this,

and you and I need to hear it. Would you pray with me? Bow your heads at all of our locations. Father, thank you for what you're speaking to our lives. Thank you for the incredible moments that we have with you. God, we pray that you would speak to us. We pray, God, that in this moment, as we worship for a few moments, as we have a prayer time in a few moments, God, we just thank you for telling us we got this, and that you speak and encourage each and every one of us, and that your Bible tells us how we can respond to you when you're speaking. Thank you for helping us hear and listen. Not be afraid, but hear and listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying in our lives. In Jesus' name we pray, amen, amen, amen.