Prioritising His Presence

H h good morning, okayama h okay.

So, as I was preparing the message yesterday, the title

of the Lord gave me was prioritizing his presence. That

sounds okay, it sounds a bit tinny. So let's pray, Father,

do pray that as we move into twenty twenty six,

you would convey the message you want to convey this

morning in Jesus name.

Amen.

So we all have priorities, okay. So we all have

priorities in life, and the people still do it. People

have their New Year resolutions and that people still do

that sort of stuff. We all think we want to

achieve in twenty twenty five, in twenty twenty six, and

that's all well and good. However, our plans need to

be bounded on the word of God and what God

says to us personally and what God says to us corporately.

And I believe the Lord knows to challenge us this

morning for listen online or you're listening later in the room.

You want to charge us about prioritizing His presence above

other things. There are many voices crying out for our time.

Where it's your family, whether it's your multiple social media accounts.

If you're Dave, you've got multiple, multiple social media accounts,

whether it's work or it's other things that can fill

your life or fill your time. I think the Lord

needs to emphasize us as we go into twenty twenty six,

that we need to prioritize his presence above all else,

and other things will fit into place.

Johnny be at the first Scripture.

So we're gonna have a look at One Kings seventeen.

For a little while. We'll see how that goes. So

One Kings is a.

Very sixteen seventeen eighteen nineteen is a very sort of

familiar chapter. It talks about Elisha eli Ja Sorry, it

talks about Ahab, who was a bad lad. He worshiped Baal,

who was a fertility reign sort of god, and he

had an interesting wife called as well. So we pick

up the story in One King's seventeen when the Lord

sent Elisha to make some declarations. One King seventeen says,

and Elisha the Tishbite or the inhabitants of Gilead set

to Ahab, as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives

before whom I stand, there shall be not be jew

nor rain these years except by my word. They had

believed in Baal silly boy, Elijah believed in the one true,

Living God. So as by to saying, it's not going

to rain by your God. But the thing I wanted

to notices, Elijah makes the statement before whom I stand

and we stand, or we sit in the presence of

God every day we're on the bus, we're at work,

we're at school, wherever we are, we're in God's presence.

We are God's representatives. People watch what we say, we

watch what we do because we're God's representatives. This man

understood he was standing in God's presence. God's presence wasn't

something are they theoretical exercise?

For him, It was a tangible truth.

Yeah, and we stand while I stand anyway in God's

presence this morning. Yeah, God is here, and God wants

us to recognize that His presence goes with us, is

around us all the time. Just because you cannot sense

it or feel it doesn't mean he's not with us.

Yeah.

Sometimes you can tangibly feel the presence of God. Other

times you cannot TANGI feel the presence. It doesn't mean

he's not there. So Elijah delivered his word and then

the Lord said to him in verse two of One

King seventeen, the word of the Lord came to him, saying,

get away from here and turn eastward and hide by

the brook Cherif, which flows into the Jordan. And it

will be that you shall drink from the brook. And

I have commanded the ravens to feed you there. So

he went and did according to the word of the Lord.

For he went and stayed by the brook Cheriff, which

flowed into the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and

meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening,

and he drank from the brook. And it happened after

a while that the brook dried up because there had

been no rain in the land. So noticed that Elijah

recognized the presence of God. Elijah heard God. When we're

in God's presence, it's easier for us to hear what

is saying if we've got lots of other things competing

for our time, which maybe that's a very valid There's

lots of things we have to do in life, but

it's how we prioritize it and what they'll want to

draw out from here was alier. Was in God's presence

and you heard what God said. God said to you, Okay,

Now go and sit by the brook, sheriff, and I

get some raiments to feed you in the day and

evening and drink the water. You go, yeah, right, unless

you're you know, you know it's God's voice. But he

went because he knew it was God's voice. So it's

important that we know God's presence so he can hear

God's voice because the two things are linked. Yeah, if

you cannot walk and be in God's presence, you're not

going to hear what God is saying. If you're not

going to hear what God is saying, you're on your own.

Recommendation number one. You don't want to be on your own.

We walk by faith and we don't walk by sight.

We need the presence of God. Yes, so the brook

dried up, so his source of supply.

Was no more.

Then God said, arise, go to Zerapith, which belongs to side,

and then dwell there. See, I've commanded a widow there

to provide for you. That's one King seventeen eight to nine.

When we're walking in God's presence and we're getting into

that pattern, God will speak to us and directors when

some when one thing ends, another door opens. If we're

not in that God, if we're not in God's presence,

we're not gonna hear what God is saying. All right,

this is this is fundamental, basic stuff. But this is

what God wants to inform us today. So I'm just

giving what we'en asked to give because we need to

be reminded of the straightforward basics. That we walk in

the basics. To get the basics right, other things will

fall into place.

All right.

We do not know what twenty twenty six holds for

the whole year, but we do know that we are

going to have to walk by faith and not by sight,

and we're going to have to prioritize God's presence to

make sure we're ready to do what He wants us

to do when He wants us to do it. We

do not want to miss God. We do not want

to miss God that God wants to do in our lives.

And as a corporate body, yeah, we are all responsible.

We are all responsible for hearing God for ourselves. It's

not some days's responsibility hear God for you. Everyone is responsible.

There's that old hym, isn't there? Trust and abbey. There

is no other way to be happy in Jesus but

to trust and obey. So we need to listen, trust

and obey what God asked her to do. If we

roll on now to one Kings nineteen, verse eleven onwards.

This is after Elijah has been up to Mount Carmel.

Is basically.

Cut the trench around the offering, is filled it with water,

is douse the offering with water. God's answer by fire

and licked up all the water in the trench and

burnt up the offering, and then is killed. So circle

phones from the fifty profits of Baal. So they went

from a big high to getting the message from Jezebels

saying coming to get you. I'm going to kill you.

And also had had a moment and it fled to

Mount Carmel.

So we just pick up.

Whereas on Mount Carmel and the Lord said, go out

and stand on the mountain before the Lord, and behold

the Lord passed by. I was a great and strong

wind into the mountain and broke the rocks in peace

before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind.

And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was

not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire.

But the Lord was not in the fire, and after

the fire a still small voice.

So it was when.

Elijah heard it that he wrapped his face in his

mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of

the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him and said,

what are you doing here, Elijah?

And he went through his deal.

We'll leave his deal, because that's not the point of

the scripture. God wasn't in the wind, he wasn't in

the earthquake, he wasn't in the fire, He was in

the still small voice. I notice Elijah knew when it

was time to go out. Timing is key to hearing

from God. Okay, time is key to hearing from God.

God speaks to us in different ways. God speaks to

each individual. He has a pattern how he speaks to people.

You need to find your pattern. Yeah, you need to

find your pattern. God he is always speaking, but you

need to find how he speaks to you. Yes, he

speaks to you through the word. Yes he might drop

something into your spirit. But he has a way of

doing things all right, which is individual to you. Everyone

in this room, everyone listening online, listening later is an individual,

and God treats you like an individual. We're not all

chocolate soldiers.

Know.

God treats us like individuals, and he speaks us individually,

and he sounds like me. When he speaks to me,

he sounds like me. And he speaks in English. Yeah,

if you out from if you are next average in English,

God might speak you a different way.

The key is to hear and know God's pattern. Yeah.

Psalm forty six and verse ten says, be still and

know that I am God. Be still and know that

I am God. One of the key things to hear

clearphone God. One of the key things is to be still.

In the world where it's twenty four seven, everything is

going on. Nothing seems to stop. If something happens to

the side of the world, if you look on your phone,

it tells you about it in great detail. It's like, okay, right, whatever,

you know, everything is moving, every's moving. But God says,

be still and no, we need to create some bestill

and no time. Jesus rose early in the morning or

sometimes late in the evening.

He go and pray.

He was a busy boy because during the day he

was out preaching and ministering and healing the sick, casting

out devils, and he had an entourage that went with him,

people around him all the time. Mark one thirty five

puts it this way. Now, in the morning, having risen

a long while before daylight, he went out and departed

to a soldiery place, and there he prayed. So no electricity,

no therm of all.

No coffee.

He went out to soldiery place to pray. He connected

with the Father, and he walked in that presence through

the day. Jesus our model. We need to follow his pattern. Yeah,

he cheasing need to connect with the Father and walk

in his presence. How much more do we need to

do that. I'm not talking about ministry, per se, play

hands on the sacred. I'm talking about just getting through

the day successfully, walking by faith, walking in love, walking

in peace, walking in forgiveness.

We need that connection, We need.

That presence daily to be successful in our daily walk. Yeah.

Luke five sixteen, he himself often withdrew into the wilderness

and prayed. Looke six po twelve. Now it came to

pass in those days that he went out to the

mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God.

I'm not saying that we're gonna step all night and pray.

It's just the principle we talk about here. Yeah, of

prioritizing his presence, being still and receiving from God. Okay,

says we move into twenty twenty six cod months to

remind us of the fundamentals of relationship.

If you're married, or you.

Got kids who didn't speak to them all day and

said nothing to him, and then said talked to him

very briefly after a while. Here they say you've got

a problem. Yeah, So how much more do we need

to connect with the Father, Jesus, the Holy Spirit. You

may not be a morning person. He may be like

Dave who was an evening person. You just need to

work out what works for you. Then stick with a battom.

You to get accustomed to his voice, not the voices

all around us. There are many voices crying for our

time right now, many voices. We need to get accustomed

to his voice. And the way you do that is

by spending time with him, so you know when it's

him speaking and not somebody else or the cheese you.

Had, or whatever.

Whoever God said will align with his word, will align

with his principles. So it's important we deveout that habit.

It's important as we don't fall into condemnation if we

don't hear from God immediately. Some people wanted to hear

from God and don't hear in that morning or in

that moment, and some kind God. Sometimes God does that.

He makes us wait longer and then he does speak.

But God is always speaking. So you haven't heard him

that morning, persevere, you might have to get up and

go to work, but listen throughout the day. God is

always speaking. He is always speaking. The key thing is

we're not always listening, We're not always attuned to what

He's saying. So never to never get into condemnation because

that's not God's best. Trust God to speak to you.

Thank God to speak to you, and listen. Larren Lee

wrote a book called The Hearing Hear, Oh Gosh twenty

five years ago about that to encourage people how to hear.

MHM.

You can't actually be taught out to hear. You have

to you have to catch it and then I appo.

You have to catch You have to learn about that

relationship and hear from God so you know it's him.

So you know that you know that you know that

you know it's him. Yeah, kah, m okay, So I

think what we're going to do. Aren't going to stand up?

We're going to pray and then I'll hand back over

to Dave.

Is that okay? Come on, Michael, kah, can I stand up? Please?

We'll pray.

M hm.

Oh.

Farther as we enter twenty twenty six. It's a new calendar, Lord,

it's a new calendar.

Thank Lord.

You were doing a new thing. You're making away in

the wellness. You're making rivers in a desert. You're opening

doors that are being closed. You're creating space an opportunity

with people. As far as you move in the people's

lives who are standing here listen on line. Later, Lord

in Jesus name, I pray you give them a hearing

ear to hear what you're saying. You'd attune their ear.

To those who listen regularly, you would heighten their hearing.

To those are don't listen regularly. You encourage them to

listen regular Lord in Jesus Name. So when you say

this is the way, walk in it, they walk in

your way. So far as you touch every person by

your spirit in this room, it's an online later and

listening now in Jesus name. They were here from heaven

given the ability to organize our time, to prevent, prioritize

your presence so they can hear what you are saying

to them. They can walk in your faith, your hope,

your love, your rhythm, miracles.

In Jesus Name. Amen, Thank you Simon. It's just great

to press into a new year listening to God. Let's

just take our seats for a moment because I just

want to do a couple of things before we come

back to worship. I want to open a Christmas card,

and I'd like some volunteers to open the Christmas card

because it's come all the way from Uganda. It's from

children at Abba Father's House, and I thought it'd be

special to open it. It's got some great big letters

on it for those who can says to the church,

so it's not to me or to anybody else. It

says love and joy to a to you Abba Father's

House Christmas. So we're going to open that in a

moment and let me just get a couple of notices

out of the way and we'll take up our tithes

and offerings as well. It's a quiet time. It's a

good