Not Empty Just Thirsty | Pastor Sarah Keller

I'm so excited about today. This is our last day of Pursuit

21 and we are standing in faith and just believing that God is

going to continue to give us breakthrough and and show up in

miraculous ways. And this is our final message of

the series that we've called hunger and thirst.

And we've been looking at this verse every week.

These are Jesus's words found in Matthew chapter 5, verse 6.

Matthew 5:6

I want us to read this together. Let's go ahead and put that on

the screen and let's read together what Jesus said.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for

they will be filled. Jesus says that we're blessed

when we hunger and when we thirst for the things of God

because He's going to fill us up.

How many of you with a show of hands would say over these 21

days you have felt the infilling and the satisfaction that comes

from God alone when we hunger? Come on, so many of you.

Well, I'm believing that no matter where you came in today

that God has even more for us today.

I highlighted the word thirst within that because Jesus said

blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Because that's a little bit of what I want to talk to you

about. Have you ever been in a moment

in life where you were hot and thirsty?

Come on, Southwest Florida. I know it's cold today, but that

is not normal. We usually have a hot and a

thirst moment. Maybe you're playing with your

kids out in the yard and they're like, come on, one more.

And you're like, I can't, I am going to die.

How do you still have energy? They're sweating and having a

blast, right? And you're like, no.

Or maybe you're in construction and you're working outside.

Come on, those roofers. God bless you.

I don't know how you stay up there on a blacktop roof, but

you do. But you understand, right?

This idea of being hot and tired and sweaty and just wondering,

can I keep going? Well, that was me in Israel

about 3 1/2 years ago. We were going to visit and Getty

and I was promised it was going to be amazing.

But what I feel like the tour guide underestimated was just

how out of shape some of us were.

I mean, so we get there and it's this mountainous terrain that we

have to walk through, walk around.

This is just one aspect of it. You would get up 1 portion of

the hill and then there would be stairs and then there would be

more terrain. And I was so hot.

I was like, I know you all said this is going to be amazing, but

I'm not sure I can keep going. Any of you ever feel that way in

your life? Like the terrain of life is just

wearing you out and you're hot and you're just wondering, can I

go on? Maybe for some of us, it's this

expectation. I've been believing for healing.

I've been praying for this and God, I have to.

I rounded a corner and it's just desert like again, there's,

there's more heat, there's more pressure.

Maybe you're believing for a breakthrough in your marriage or

in your kids lives and you haven't quite seen it yet.

And you're like, I don't know if I can keep going on.

I'm battling. I'm I'm trying to keep my

thoughts pure, but man, God, this is hard.

And you reach that place of desperation.

You're like, I don't know if I can keep going.

Well, that was me that day. I was like, I'm not sure that I

can actually get to the destination.

I'm more trained and for treadmill and air conditioning,

everybody, I was not trained for this moment.

And then the answer came in the form of a tree.

And we found this tree and I was like that, let's go there.

And we sat under the tree. Those who are more trained kept

going and some of us just sat under this tree, got our water

out because we are so hot and we are so thirsty.

And we took that big drink of water and then we were able to

finish what we needed to finish. And that day in Israel, I

realized it wasn't that I couldn't go on.

It was just that I was thirsty and I needed some water.

And so that's the title of my message today.

If you're taking notes, the title of the message that God

has given me today is not empty, just thirsty.

Not empty, just thirsty. And I believe no matter how

you've come in today, how full you are or how thirsty you are,

that God wants to pour out his Spirit on us on this 21st day of

prayer. He's going to meet us right

where we are. So will you just join me in

prayer? Heavenly Father, we thank you.

Jesus, Holy Spirit, would you come and would you pour out your

spirit on us? God, give us ears to hear what

you're saying to us. The church, we're listening.

We pray in Jesus name. And everyone who agreed said

Amen and Amen. So if you have your Bible, you

can go ahead and turn to First Samuel 23.

If not, don't worry, the verses will be on the screen for you.

But I want to give us some context for those of you who are

maybe new to following Jesus or new to Bible study.

Let me give you some context because we're going to be

looking at David's life. And David was an anointed man of

God who was a young man who Samuel, the prophet of the day,

anoints as Israel's future king. And so there's this anointing

service. You're going to be king.

It's going to be amazing. God's hand is on you, David.

But Saul, King Saul was still on the throne.

And so David becomes the target of Saul's jealousy and Saul's

anger, and he just randomly starts to try and kill David.

And David's like, what did I do? Like, I'm just serving you.

David always had a heart after God.

He always had a heart to just serve the king, and yet the king

had it out for him. So he's forced to flee and he

has to leave Israel. And David lived as a fugitive in

the caves and in wilderness places.

So by First Samuel 23, he's hiding in the wilderness of

Judah, and Saul is straight up hunting him down.

He wants him dead First. Samuel 20, three verse 14

records. David stayed in the wilderness

strongholds and in the hills of the desert of Ziff.

Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David

into his hands. While David was at Horace in the

desert of Ziff, he learned that Saul had come out to take his

life. So David is in the wilderness.

He's in the desert. You see, deserts are physically

rough places, and this is where David was.

He was in a dry and dangerous place because Saul was

aggressively chasing after him. So this is a picture of a little

bit of what the Judean Desert would have looked like for David

and his men who found themselves on the run from King Saul.

But what I want us to understand is that the Judean Desert was

actually around 500 square miles.

In other words, no matter where David went in the wilderness,

all he could see was desert. You see deserts.

The thing about deserts are that they're hard to navigate.

You can tell there are no roads. If you're in the middle of the

desert, you don't know how you're going to get out.

The desert makes your eyes dry and your mouth dry and your body

dusty. The desert feels like there is

no end and you see church, family, desert and wilderness.

Seasons are a metaphor of what we can often feel like in our

lives. Have you ever had a desert

season, a desert situation, A desert season maybe where

there's infertility and it's not just six months of that

pregnancy test saying negative, negative.

It's years upon years and it's a desert season.

Maybe it's a a loss of someone or something.

And that season of grief just continues on.

It feels like we're in a desert desert season where we're

praying and believing for that miracle, but we haven't seen it

happen. And so it becomes the season.

But there's also just desert situations.

Sometimes it's elongated, but sometimes it's just situational.

Someone betrays you, someone walks out on your in your life

and all of a sudden you feel like you are in a desert moment.

You feel like something happens to you.

Maybe you lose your job. And I didn't do anything to

deserve this. And all of the sudden I'm in a

desert situation. But there can also be desert

moments. Or maybe it doesn't feel like an

elongated season or a situation, but a moment that you walk into

the room and you've prayed, you've spent some time with

Jesus and you walk into that business meeting, or you walk

into the school. Something happens and you feel

darkness, you feel opposition. And all of a sudden the light

you thought you were bringing starts to dim because you find

yourself in this desert moment. And in those moments, we can

have this reaction, the reaction that we can have because it

feels dry and because we feel dusty.

All of a sudden, we can have this reaction where the enemy

tries to get us to believe in those desert situations.

In those desert seasons, those desert moments, the enemy starts

to lie to us and we can feel empty.

We feel empty on the inside. We feel empty of promises.

They can make you feel empty, but don't miss this.

Deserts also have natural hiding places.

In every desert there are moments in hiding places like

caves and hills of protection. And this is where David was,

both in a physical desert but also finding hiding places where

it says that God would not allow the enemy to take out David and

the anointing that was on his life.

So let's pick back up into the situation.

First Samuel 23 he records in verse 24.

Meanwhile, David and his men had moved into the wilderness of

Mayon in the Araba Valley South of Deshemin.

When David heard that Saul and his men were searching for him,

he went even farther into the wilderness to the great rock,

and he remained there in the wilderness of Mayon.

But Saul kept after him in the wilderness.

So David, he's on the run, he's in the wilderness.

And then the Scripture records that not only was there not a

way out, but he had to go even further, even further into the

wilderness. He has this moment where he's

not leaving to go back to Israel, where it's going to be

bright and sunny and everything's going to be OK.

He actually is in a desert and in a wilderness.

And it is hard. And it feels like there's no

end. And somebody's on the run to

come and get him. And then he has to go even

further. Have you ever been there where

it's a situation you're going through or a season you're going

through and you're like, this is so hard.

This is this is hard to keep the faith.

This is hard to keep praying and and it's hard to keep believing

and and you think it can't get any worse and then it does.

I know I've been there moments where I think surely the answer

is right on the other side and instead I have to go further

into the wilderness. This is where David was.

He goes even further. But what I want us to understand

is that in First Samuel we get to see, We get a glimpse to see

what was happening to David. But the Psalms are prayers and

journals to God. They also allow us to see how

David was processing it with God because all around him was

wilderness. And even though he was in this

place, he never forgot who God was.

He never forgot the promises that God has spoken over him.

He never forgot the God that he served.

And so we see throughout the songs that there are these

moments where David would cry out to God.

What a glimpse you see. There is what you see, but there

is always who you can't see. And in every desert situation

there is what you see. In every desert moment there is

what is happening around you. In every desert season there are

things that start to compile and add up, and yes, that is what

you see. But who you can't see is God,

who is with you and for you and surrounding you.

Right in the middle of that. Who you can't see are Angel

armies that in a moment can be dispatched on your behalf.

Who you can't see is Jesus Christ, who already paid the

price, the Holy Spirit who is within us, that with one cry, in

one moment, we can have answers in the midst of the wilderness.

You see, when we're in a wilderness of any kind, the

enemy wants us to think that we are empty.

He'll lie to us and go. You are empty.

You're empty of promises, you're empty of solutions.

You're empty of answers. You are empty.

You're not enough and he wants you to look on and try and fill

them with things to make that void go away.

Who convinced us we need to turn to pornography or go get drunk

to just numb the pain away or turn to drugs?

Or maybe it's just turning to that person.

Maybe it's turning to gossip. Maybe it it's just it's getting

angry around a certain situation and what's happening is we're

trying to fill the void because we feel we feel empty.

But I want to tell us, church, today, you are not empty, you're

just thirsty. In those desert situations, in

those desert seasons, in those moments, we have to understand

what's happening. The enemy will try and convince

us that we're empty, but we're really just thirsty.

So what do we do? How do we respond when we

recognize, oh, I'm just thirsty? So we're going to look at Psalm,

Psalm 63, because this Psalm was recorded when David was in the

desert. So David's in the middle of the

desert. He's in the middle of this

situation in the Judean desert. And this is the Psalm that is

recorded by him. He says in Psalm 63, one, you,

God are my God. Earnestly, I seek you.

I thirst for you. My whole being longs for you.

In a dry and parched land where there is no water.

See, there's no water around him.

It's dry. It's a wilderness place.

But #1 we see that David was able to turn to God first.

He knew who was for him. He never forgot the God that he

could not see. And he turns to him first.

And he cries out to God. Oh God, you're my God.

And in this moment of desperation, and in this moment

of a dry and parched land where it feels like there's no water,

I am thirsty. But God, I'm thirsty for you.

You see, it's so easy, church family, when we get that phone

call or we hear that news, it's so easy to want to just pick up

the phone and call someone or start researching all of the

answers or try and figure it out on our own or, or, or start to

tell someone else about the situation.

Not in the form of a prayer request, but in the form of

gossip and fear and anger and all of the things.

And so it is. It's so essential that we

understand that that is the tactic of the enemy to try and

get us to spiral, to try and get us out of faith, to try and get

us knocked down, to try and get us anxious or afraid, to try and

get us to search, chat, ChatGPT surely for the answer.

But could we church family be a church?

How many of you would say I want to be a son or daughter of God?

That turns to God first. The minute we feel that we are

thirsty, I'm going to turn to him.

I'm going to turn to him. I'm going to recognize I'm

thirsty, which means I need him. David goes on and he says I have

seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your

glory, because now he explains why your love is better than

life. My lips will glorify you.

How do we respond when we're thirsty #2 We need to recognize

God's love and power. God has love for us and He has

power in the Holy Spirit that He wants to give us.

When we are in these desert situations, when we face a

desert kind of moment, when we're in a desert season and the

enemy tries to get us to feel empty.

No, no, no, we're just thirsty. And what we're really thirsty

for is His love and His power. You see, every time we're in a

moment like this, the enemy will try and put a spirit of fear on

us. He'll try and convince us that

we're abandoned, that we're left alone, that God doesn't care

about us. I mean, imagine how David must

have felt. It's easy to read this because

we know the ending. We know Jesus comes through the

line of David and but in this moment, he didn't know how it

ended. He's crying out for God.

And he says, I've seen you in the sanctuary and I've beheld

your power and your glory because your love, oh God, your

love is better than my life. He says, you see, his love is

better. And the New Testament says that

perfect love, it casts out all of that fear.

So when the enemy's trying to put fear on us, God's like, I

got something for you to cast all of that out.

You don't need to turn to pornography.

My love is better than pornography.

My love is better than what that person can tell you.

My love is better than your life.

My love is better than you getting angry if you would just

turn to me and recognize that he's got love.

He's got love for us and he's got power because God has not

given us the spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.

So he's got power. He wants to deliver to us to get

us through the wilderness, but we have to exercise that when we

receive his love. Now we've got our power back.

And this is what David was praying.

Verse four, he goes on. He says, I will praise you as

long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.

I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods.

Now pause. Remember he's in the desert.

There is no rich food in this desert.

So he is in this place. Not only is he thirsty, but he's

hungry. And he's probably just imagining

what he wishes he could eat. Come on, 21 days.

Some of you are like, that's me. Tomorrow, I'm going to eat the

bread and the cheese and the chocolate.

And that's me. That's just me.

That's what's on my list for tomorrow, right?

So David, he's in this desert and he's saying, God, I'm

imagining, I'm just imagining that he's thinking about this

kind of food that would be amazing if he could have a table

and he could eat up. But he says no, no, I will be

fully satisfied as with as if I had rich food.

I'm going to be satisfied with you, God.

And then he says with singing lips.

My mouth will praise you on my bed.

I remember you. I think of you through the

watches of the night. Now what were the watches of the

night? You see, during that time when

there was an enemy that was coming against them, they would

take different watches. They would take 3 hours at a

time. There were three different

watches through the night. So that they were very aware of

what the enemy was trying to do. So some would be awake and they

would be looking out for what the enemy was doing, while the

others could sleep. Come on, that's a good friend

praying for you. Some of you, you've been waking

up in the middle of the night. You've been wondering why?

Because God's calling you to intercede and pray.

It's the watch of the night. So he says through the watches

of the night, even while in the physical, I'm looking out for

the enemy. Oh God, my thoughts are on you.

And that's how we can be #3 how do we respond?

We've got to praise him non-stop.

Praise him non-stop. I love this because David was a

worshipper. He was a worshipper and he makes

a decision. As long as I.

Live and remember he knew this Saul might kill him any day.

And he says as long as I live, I will worship you.

As long as I live, I will praise you.

As long as I'm looking out. Yeah, for what the enemy might

be trying to do to me. My thoughts are on you.

This is who you are. He said in the good, in the bad,

in the ugly, in the desert, in the in the in the palace, no

matter where. God, I'm going to praise you.

I'm going to praise you. Could we be a church who says

I'm going to praise him non-stop?

No matter what we are going through, I'm going to worship.

I'm going to worship you. You see, in these seasons, in

these situations, in these moments when it feels like we're

dry and we are weary, can I encourage you?

We need water and worship can be our water.

That's what David was doing. Some of us, we are running

through life. We are running through life and

we feel so dry and we feel so weary.

Can I encourage you? It's because you're thirsty.

Marathon runners understand this.

Come on. If you are a marathon runner, we

want to celebrate you today. Would you just raise your hand

if you've ever run a marathon? Come on.

Yeah, that's awesome. Come on.

Give them a hand. My hand's not up.

I was just encouraging them. Marathon runners understand

this. Marathons are 26.2 miles.

That's a lot of running. But they would tell you they

can't do it without a water stop.

Every marathon has between 12 and 20 options for a water aid

station where during the run of the marathon, they have to stop

and drink the water. Why?

Because if you're in the middle of the marathon, you're going to

be convinced that you can't keep going.

You can keep going. You just need a water stop.

And some of us, this is how we're running through life.

We are running and running and running and we are weary and

we're trying to figure it how. And we feel dry and we feel

empty and we're convinced that God's not for us.

And we are running and running and running.

Can I tell you, you just need a stop where you can get some

water. Every single time you feel like

you're empty, just think in your mind and in your heart, I just

need water. And instead of running and

running and running and trying to figure it all out on your own

and wearing yourself out, you just need to run to the Father.

You need to run to the to the feet of Jesus.

You need the Holy Spirit and you need to say, Oh God, in this dry

land, I am thirsty. Would you fill me up?

And the great part is when we bring our empty cup, he's like,

of course I'm going to fill you up because you think you're

empty. You're really just thirsty.

His refreshing rain will come in any moment if we stop running

and just receive the water that he wants to give us.

When we start worshipping, we start praising.

And this is what David did #7 he says, because you are my help.

I sing in the shadow of your wings.

I cling to you. Your right hand upholds me.

Church family, what do we do when we're thirsty?

We're going to turn to God first.

We're going to receive his love and power.

We're going to praise him non-stop.

And that we're going to remember He's holding you.

He's holding you. Our granddaughter Esther is 7

1/2 months old. And got to spend some time with

her yesterday. And I've just been reminded

because, of course, my two boys are adults and grown.

And I've been reminded what it is to hold a baby and have one

arm get a lot stronger than the other.

Come on, parents, you know what I'm talking about.

Like, my left arm's so weak. And then I'm like, yeah, so this

is me with Esther, right? Because I'm.

I'm holding her and being able to hold her and realize what it

is to hold on to her. It's just amazing.

But we captured this picture at Christmas time and this is a

picture of of us with our Esther.

Jane, what I want you to see is that yes, I'm holding her, but

also she is clinging to me. Yesterday I was getting my nails

done and I had already written this part of the message, but

God spoke to me through the nail tech.

Come on, somebody that's good. I told her that I was going to

spend some time with Esther that day.

And she said, oh, how old is she?

7 1/2 months? And she said, does does she

still like being held? And I said, Oh yeah, she is a

cuddler. And she said, oh, good, 'cause

sometimes kids reach that age and they paint outgrown it and

they don't want to be held anymore.

And I felt the Holy Spirit say, Sarah, that is some of my sons

and daughters that you're going to be talking to.

I'm strong enough for them. I am holding them.

I want to hold them, but they're not clinging to me.

They're fighting it off and they're thinking they've got to

have it all together. Can I just remind you he loves

you. He's a good father.

His wings are big and they are soft, and he's got arms that are

broad enough to hold you, and we just get to cling to him.

So this is how David responds when he's thirsty and in the

desert. Let's look at what God does for

him. First Samuel 2326 records.

Saul and David were now on opposite sides of a mountain.

Just as Saul and his men began to close in on David and his

men, an urgent message reached Saul that the Philistines were

raiding Israel again. So there's one mountain, David

and his men on one side, Saul on the other side.

They are coming in to close on him.

Verse 28. So Saul quit chasing David and

return to fight the Philistines. Ever since that time, the place

where David was camped has been called the Rock of Escape.

I love this because God uses the enemy army in the in the form of

the Philistines to actually be David's answer.

Do you know that God, if you are called according to his purpose

and walking in his favor, God will turn all things together

for good. He even used the enemy to be

David's escape. That is how good our God is.

And it says that there was a rock of escape, that this place

where God showed up for him was called the rock of escape.

And I just want to prophecy to some of you today.

You've been thinking you're empty.

You've been thinking this is the end.

You've been thinking it is over. It is not over.

This is not the end. God will always find a rock of

escape for us as his children. He will come through, He will

come through and we'll always have kind of this place here on

earth where we are thirsty and we are hungry.

There's actually a, a part of Revelation that talks about

this. This is a vision where John sees

a great multitude of believers in Jesus who are wearing white

robes. And then it says in Revelation

715, therefore they are before the throne of God and serve him

day and night and in his temple. And he who sits on the throne

will shelter them with his presence.

Verse 16 never again will they hunger.

Never again will they thirst always here on earth.

We're going to have these desert season situations moments, But

when we reach heaven, oh, his presence is going to cover us.

We're never going to thirst again.

We're never going to hunger again.

The satisfaction of Jesus will be our covering.

We're not empty church family. We're just thirsty, going to

enter into a time of prayer and worship in a moment.

But before we do, I just want to give us an opportunity.

If you don't know Jesus is your savior, Maybe you feel empty and

you're like, I've felt this way my whole life.

I've felt that void my whole life.

You've been turned into everything and everyone to try

and fill that void. Can I just tell you God loves

you? Jesus is your answer.

He wants to come in and be that water of life.

Revelation 2217 says come, Let the one who is thirsty come and

let the one who wishes to take the free gift of the water of

life. That is who Jesus is for you.

And if you've never said yes to Jesus, I want to give you that

opportunity. It's as simple as admitting that

you're a Sinner. I've done some things that

aren't right. I've been going my own way and

just believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He died

on a cross for your sins. He was placed in a grave, but he

resurrected from that grave. He's in heaven.

You can follow Him as your Savior, and you can just confess

that with your mouth and with one confession.

He's going to come in and be your Savior.

You're going to know that heaven is your home and you can walk

with Jesus. He's going to fill up that place

of emptiness. So with every head bowed and all

of our eyes closed, just for the privacy of this moment, if

you've never said yes to Jesus, I want to give you the chance to

do that across all of our locations and online.

Just begin to in the on the count of three, just raise your

hand. And that's just you saying, I

confess, I want to know that Jesus is my Savior.

I want to follow him. 123 Raise your hand up high so we can see

it at all the locations. I see those hands.

I see those hands. God sees your hand.

I see that hand over in this section.

Yes, I see that hand. God sees you too.

Come on all of our locations online.

You can put it in the chat. If that's you and you have your

hand up, go ahead and just put that hand on your heart.

That's just representing that as I pray you're receiving this for

yourself. Jesus, I thank you that you are

the Son of God. I admit that I'm a Sinner.

Would you wash my sin Jesus? Would you place me into your

family? I believe that you died and you

rose again. God, I want to know you as

Father. Send the Holy Spirit in Jesus

name. I want to follow you all of the

days of my life. Amen.

Amen. If that was you, before you

leave the property today, we want to put one of these Bibles

in your hand to just continue to help you with the decision you

made today as you walk with Jesus.

Just head to the Next Steps area and we're going to give you this

gift. But we're not finished yet.

We've built in some time in our service here to just allow the

reign of the Spirit to fill us up where we're thirsty, where

you stand, every location, Cape Coral East family, downtown here

in Fort Myers. I want us to do what David did

and just begin to worship. Begin to allow the rain of the

Spirit to come into any dry place.

Begin to just open up your hands and your heart.

He wants to meet you right where you're at.

Come on, let's see. Let's see.

When your glory fall down, fall light dream, Holy Spirit, fall

light rain, Holy Spirit, have your way.

When your glory fall down. The.

I don't know what moments you've been facing, what situation you

may be in, what season you're going through, but I just want

to proclaim it's not the end and we're going to do what David

did. We're going to pray the same

prayer did David prayed. And so I want you to repeat

after me, but get that situation, get that season, get

that thing in your mind. And I believe that God is going

to come in every place and every crevice where the enemy's been

trying to get you to think that you're empty to realize, oh, I'm

just thirsty. Repeat after me.

You God are my God. I earnestly seek you.

I thirst for you. My whole being longs for you in

a dry and parched land where there is no water.

I have seen you in the sanctuary, and behold your power

and glory, because your love. Is better than my life, my lips.

Will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I

live, and in your name I will. Lift up my hands.

I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods, my

see my lips. Will sing to you.

I will praise you on my bed. I will remember you.

Oh God, you are your help, God which you come through right

now. God, I pray Father people, I

feel this shadow of your wings covering them right now.

God be the presence and the power.

Shower over God and we make a decision to worship.

Let's worship. And let's watch.

The. Thank you on this 21st day of

fasting and prayer. We thank you God.

We thank you for answered prayers.

We thank you God for prayers yet to be answered.

We stand in faith God, that you are good and you will continue

to satisfy us. God, your love is better than

life. So I pray blessing, I, I pray

favor, I pray protection against the evil one in the name of

Jesus. Would you continue to be the

rock of escape? God, every time the enemy tries

to tell us we're empty, oh God, would you fill us up as we

hunger and thirst for you. We pray in Jesus name.

And everyone who agreed said Amen, come on, let's praise God.