Building Resilience Through Authentic Spiritual Practices

"Developing a resilient faith and to have that kind of faith you're going to have to do some preparation work up front you're going to have to do some preventative maintenance right to prepare yourself so when tough when tough times come that you'll be ready and it's developing spiritual habits that's what we're going to talk about today that's the preventative medicine right for our souls the habits that we develop right they're not going to stop the trials from coming because life is always going to have all types of different challenges but here's what your habits do they anchor you so that when the storms come you're going to have you're you're going to be like you're going to be rock solid you're going to be able to hold steady you're not going to be swept away by the current right when the storms come and that takes work up front that takes some preparation." [00:06:15]

"Surface level spirituality is what I would call it. It makes us feel good temporarily, but it doesn't prepare you when the storms of life hit. That's the problem with surface level spirituality. It may make you feel good in the moment, but when the tough times come, what's going to happen? You're going to say, why me? Why is this happening? I don't understand this. Look at everything I've done. Look at all the praise I've received. And this still happens to me? Why? Why? I mean, that's the problem, right? And so when a challenge comes, a shallow faith is going to crumble under the weight of hardship." [00:14:54]

"Jesus invites us, right, to practice our faith in ways that are deeply rooted in relationship. He says, when you give to someone in need, don't even let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. And what he's saying is our habits, our actions should be so sincere, right, that they flow from us without even thinking about it, that we're not worried who's watching us. We're not worried about what we're going to get back in return. And the antidote to the surface level spirituality is just authenticity. It's authenticity. It's about doing it. It's about doing the right thing for the right reason and the right way." [00:15:55]

"Our private practices develop resilience and so as we keep going here in Matthew 6 Jesus shifts his focus now to prayer and let me just read this to you verse 5 and 6 he says when you pray now so he's moved on from when you give to now when you pray don't be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them I tell you the truth that is all the reward that they will ever get but when you pray you go away by yourself you shut the door behind you and you pray to your father in private and then your father who sees everything will reward you." [00:20:51]

"The real power of prayer comes not from being seen and not impressing others but it comes from connecting deeply with God and so if you want this kind of resilient faith we're talking about it's going to take some work in private to hold up to the to the public problems in life uh you foundation of an authentic relationship with God so you can come to church on Sunday mornings you can serve you can sign up for a life group you can do those things but if you're not spending time with God individually on your own in private you're going to have that weak foundation and I've seen it so I've seen it time after time after time people have a faith that is more public a faith that is more just you know they do it on the surface and and the problem is when a trial comes in life when when anything happens that they're not expecting they don't have the foundation to withstand it." [00:22:51]

"Stillness is where we encounter the presence of God. And I know for some of you, that's tough to do. If you've got little kids at home, your house is not a still, quiet place. I get it. But how do you find that? How do you make time? How do you apply some level of intentionality about it? We've all got to figure out how to get away and spend time with God. Prayer, meditation, scripture reading, fasting. All of those things, they prepare us. They prepare us to face the demands of life and you may not see the results right away. But what they're doing is they're building that endurance." [00:25:53]

"Those disciplines then become daily rhythms. And those daily rhythms give us stability during our trials. Psalm 1 is another passage that I love. And let me just read Psalm 1, 1 through 3. Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked or stand around with sinners or join in with mockers, but they delight in the law of the Lord. They meditate on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither and they prosper in all they do." [00:26:59]

"He's given us this picture of what a resilient faith looks like, right? That they delight in the law of the Lord. You meditate on it day and night continually, right? And then you'll be a true believer. Plant it. You'll be planted and not only that, you'll be a healthy tree. And so their leaves never wither. They prosper in all they do. And this is what it looks like to be nourished and healthy. I was amazed, I don't know about you guys, after the hurricane here, to see so many trees fall down, right?" [00:28:24]

"And the daily, the private practices that lead to daily habits, that's what's developing our root system that's going to hold us solid, right? That's what's going to protect us from the wind, protect us from the storm when it comes. And so the resilience comes from that deep unseen work of our daily connection with God. And the more time we spend with God in private, the more that root system is going to go out and develop and grow strong. And that's why the Galatians, Paul can say, let's not get tired of doing what is good." [00:29:23]

"Honoring God by giving Him our best, our time, our resources, our energy, what we're doing, we're acknowledging He is the Lord of our life. And so it's not just about squeezing in five minutes a day over here, or let me just, I prayed this morning, so I did all that I needed to do. It's about giving God not just a little bit, but giving Him your best. Let's read that kind of, that's my fourth point. We honor God by giving Him our best." [00:30:21]

"When we honor God by giving him the first and the best parts of our life, what we're doing is we're just saying, God, we acknowledge that every, everything good in our life is coming from you. And we just want to honor you. We just want to honor you. And so all of this today, we've talked about all this kind of comes back to if you want a resilient faith if you want to have that kind of faith that no matter what happens that no matter what life throws at you you can stand firm it's going to take some work it's going to take some preparation it's going to take spiritual habits that anchor you and it's going to take some private practices that sustain you it's going to mean that you honor god by giving him the best of everything and when you do that consistently day after day month after month year after year you're going to end up with a strong resilient faith." [00:35:18]