 Jesus name I want to open to Psalm one that's I'm not gonna be preaching Someone else gonna preach. I'm just gonna share The difference between preaching and sharing there is no difference Psalm chapter 1 Psalm 1 it says the following blessed is the man who walks not in the console of the ungodly nor stands in the path of sinners No sits in the seat of the scornful But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law He meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season Whose leaf also shall not wither and whatever he does Shall prosper I want to briefly encourage us today talking about the importance of Prayer the importance of praying the importance of spending time with God in the mornings or in the evenings Coming to church. I want to just remind each one of you that every morning Monday to Friday The church is open here at least four or five o'clock and everyone is welcome to come and pray Also on Sunday morning at 9 15 all of the home group leaders They come here for prayer and everyone also is welcome who want to be a home group leader Who just wants to spend time with God to come and a little bit before the service? We pray for people and everyone is welcome on Friday night at 9 o'clock You know there's also a prayer going on here where we are praying So I mean if you're not a morning person you got evening if you're not an evening person you got a morning There is really no excuse you may say why there's so much prayer is because there's so much excuses So we want to eliminate all of them and so that after the end when you see all of these prayers happening You literally your only reason for not praying is you It's no longer us. You know, it's no longer the church. It's no longer them It's it's gonna be us now. It's gonna be no. I'm just lazy. I just don't want to go pray That's it. That's the real real reason because we want to eliminate all of the excuses, but I don't want to just talk about prayer I want to give you just few simple basic steps. I found in my life When it comes to giving When it comes to health exercising when it comes to sacrifices like if I want to give a certain portion of money away to to somebody When it comes to paying off debt or when it comes to making certain things in a relationship or When it comes to also my time in prayer or even including Bible reading right now I am on a 90-day in To read the whole Bible in 90 days and at first, you know I thought it would be pretty easy because I was listening to it And so when you listen when you're cutting the grass, you know in your yard or you're you know doing all of these things You know you can listen to 30 chapters and you're like so used to this like particular word or particular scripture already You're like your mind is like just being fried of so much scriptures And it's completely fine until you start reading and it's like 25 chapters You're like mama Mia and the good thing is you have on this app You have this opportunity to anytime you are behind to start from the day that you're behind on and stuff So it's a very good opportunity on the app. Anyway beside the point is that when I look at my life and I saw what is the steps that I personally unknowingly take To develop my relationship with God or to develop my health or to develop my finances I narrowed it down everything to five steps that every single time I succeeded something these steps I took and You can actually write them down as well because these will be the steps that you will see also in your life If you don't succeed at something it's usually because on one of these steps you get stuck The first step that always for me was desire. I Always start with what I want Before I read the before I started to read the Bible in 90 days. I wanted to read the Bible in 90 days I had that want for a while Before I start coming to morning prayers at five o'clock Consistently I wanted to for a while. I was coming at seven at seven thirty at eight But secretly I carried a want inside. I wanted to come earlier When it comes to even giving I remember long long time ago I carry that secret wish when I heard people saying they gave cars away or when they gave Thousands of dollars away to the kingdom of God. I was like that's not me, but I want to be one day me So you always start with the desire a want is a simple you want to a guy who's person who smokes as I want to Not smoke a person who drinks as you know what I do you want to Accomplish that if you don't even want to honestly forget about the rest of it You can zone out for next just five minutes Please do because it's not gonna apply to you if you want to and usually 99% of the people here have that want you know you're living with your girlfriend, but you want to be married That's a good place to start in maybe you're here coming here today And you know you believe in God, but you have never made a decision to follow God You've never you never committed your life to God, but today you say you know what I want to Maybe when I'm 90, but I want to that's a good place to start You know when I meet people sometimes and I ask them who are addicted to certain things I'm like do you want to be free? They're like no, then they ask him a second question Do you want to want to be free? They're like yes Maybe you don't want to today. Maybe you're like, you know what I don't want to but do you want to want to? If the answer is yes, that's a good place to start with That's where all people who see changes in their life want to a person who wants to lose weight has to Start with a want. I want to lose weight. I want to look better I want to feel better and I want to be more healthier the person who wants to give Financially each month or each paycheck first starts with I want to see God moving my finances the person who has you know $20,000 dead consumer debt first starts with the desire. I want to the person who never saved money first starts with the desire You know what one day I want to save money now the only problem with this step is most of us That's the only step we stay on Want to and you and it's two years and it's the same one to same one to one to and you're already 35 and Still want to you got two kids already and still living with the girlfriend not married and you still you know in credit card Dead you're still not happy with your weight. You're still not happy with your relationship with God Why because you started in a good place, but that's not the place you should be staying in Can somebody say amen? So the second step is decision So after a want after a desire a person now somebody might say that this desire is a decision. It's not Decision is when you make a decision inside and says I will So you go from I want in step one to go to step two. I will now what hinders people to make a decision is this is details People say well, I can't make a decision to be out of debt I don't know how or I don't have enough money or I don't have this seat Person of decision makes a decision Leaving details beside if you make a decision You will eventually work out the details if you focus on the details you will never make a decision I'm gonna say that again if you make a decision You will be surprised how everything will work out and you will come to morning prayers Everything will be fine with the gas prices everything will be fine with your work and your beauty sleep Everything will somehow work out if you focus on the details. You will never make a decision If you make a decision that I will give you know 10% around me pay my paycheck I will give to God you will not the details will work out you will look at the end of the month Yes, you might have to cut you know from four cups of coffee to three cups of coffee, but you will be just fine The details will be worked on if you make a decision Many people don't make decisions because they are obsessed with details. I mean I know how it is I remember when you know we made a decision with my wife last year that we will give you know each month a certain amount of money It was all of the amount of money We were saving each month and all of these details popped in my mind and what about this and what about that and what about you? What about this you know, but once you make a decision Details they take care of themselves You know for me, you know we have one vehicle right now and my wife You know she she wakes up a little bit later than I and so I remember when I made a decision I will come to morning Press I'm like what about my wife who will pick her up. I don't want to drive back and forth Even though it's like a 40 seconds drive, but I'm like what about who's gonna drop her off at work and everything You know, but everything works out when you make a decision somebody say decision So don't focus on details make a decision when it comes to even giving your life to Jesus, you know Some people like well if I give my life to Jesus, you know, what about this this and that no first make a decision Then worry about the details Amen same thing with health. Well, I don't have time to work out. I don't have time to take care of my health I don't have time, you know, I don't have time to cook food So I always have to eat at fast food restaurants No, no, no make a decision first and then the details will take care of themselves the McDonald's on the way to your work We close down I'm just joking. He won't Number three after you make a decision. This is the hard part where most of us fail in is number two and number three And the number three is discipline Discipline is to actually do it. I almost want to repeat what? do it We have a little video that Martin Ochoa and Martin Parker took this Created and do it the discipline aspect of it is actually following through Sometimes you make a decision and then You postpone and you wait too long to do it and then you lose the Feelings that you had here and here and then you quickly back away. You say meh, I'm not gonna do that You have to be a man of a principle when you make a decision try to do it as soon as possible If you make a decision for example that I'm gonna be spending time with God do it tomorrow morning Don't do it five years from now Because by five years from now you might not even be here in five years from now things will change If you make a decision that you are gonna get out of debt That means you make a list of all your debts smallest to greatest today And you knock them out in the next paycheck you do the discipline part if you don't apply discipline Your decision will very soon suffer and then you will be disappointed in you That you are a failure why because everything you make a decision to do you always fail and then when you make it It's when you disappointed in you you're gonna be most difficult person to live with and while you can blame the church You can blame someone always other people pressure me to pray people pressure me to read the Bible People pressure me to give my life to Jesus, you know, my wife is pressuring me to do this My husband is pressuring me to do this, you know, my boyfriend is pressuring me to this But in reality it is you That makes decisions and doesn't fall through them and so you are no one to blame and we're not saying to blame you But pick yourself up make a decision and follow through it at least one decision in your life and follow through it Because somebody say amen and once you make a one decision and you follow through your self confidence will grow And it plays a domino effect and then it affects other decisions of your life And you will begin to feel better about you and that's how confidence and faith works. This is not pride This is faith that's working in your life when you have a discipline with the decisions that you have desired. Amen And this is the beautiful part about discipline is delight There comes a point in discipline Where discipline is no longer discipline You want to do it now Now it's a delight like David says I delight in your law. Come on. We know David was not some special Species The law he wasn't talking about I delight in your promises We all love the promises of God. We don't like the commandments of God David says I love your commandments the book of Leviticus. I love book of Leviticus You're like David. What is going on with you? But see you don't arrive at the level of delight You don't arrive at the level of prayer where you love praying just there Nobody gets a gift. None of us are here. Oh, he just loves giving it never started with love It always started. I had a desire. I made a decision I suffered through with my discipline and there comes it kicks in a delight where you love it You can't explain it because just few weeks ago you couldn't stand it you suffered it You're endured it, but now you love it you get a kick out of it Now if it's a habit now if you miss it you get sick Now if you don't do it something doesn't feel right. I Remember when you know about a month ago. I was going to Massachusetts to to speak and I was I had a flight I think one o'clock in the afternoon and so on the Wednesday night I stood up a little bit late and so next morning was morning prayer and because already, you know for three months You know it was consistently Consistently coming to morning prayers by body got used to it and already you know and I already start enjoying it But I remember I told myself next morning on Thursday. I'm skipping morning prayer because I need to catch up my sleep and So I already turned off my alarm. I told Lana you go to morning prayer. I'm sleeping. I'm resting I will go to prayer when I wake up My body woke up at 445 I Told my body we're not praying today go back to sleep. My body says you train me to wake up I'm awake. I remember I wrestled with myself. My body woke up 40 minutes later again I was upset and Then 40 minutes later again, and I remember I had such a miserable morning that I had a headache and I eventually went to prayer and I remember praying and I was a God singing God And they felt like God was 3 million miles away and that's when my consciousness start saying to me say hey listen You'll train me so good. I want to pray now and what's wrong with you? Why didn't you want to wake up? I had a headache all that day. I got a headache on the airplane I had a headache right there and the first service or first to services one Until I repent before God and I said Lord Unless I'm dead, but if my body already wants to pray I'm gonna pray to Whether I'm leaving to Massachusetts whether I'm leaving to Africa or whether I have a vacation I want to spend time with God why because it's already a delight and it makes you sick if you don't do it Can somebody say a man But see you don't arrive at this delight part when it comes to giving and we're giving becomes natural You know like for us today when it comes to you know sacrificing when it comes giving it's no longer painful It was painful two years ago the thought of giving made my heart skip beat and not out of excitement out of fear Then what's gonna happen? Who's gonna take it away? What about me? What about me? What about me and all of this what about me like like 20 million voices what about me? You know and you're gonna die and people gonna take you foolish and everything and all of these things and then I'm when I mentioned to some people You know to get their encouragement. They said wow you usually make wise financial decisions, but this one is a stupid one That was a great, you know, but then what I realized is this is that when you endure through when you endure through You will endure to discipline you will get to the delight where you will love it and once you love it That's when it changes you It's not the things you endure that change you it's the things you enjoy that change you It's once people enjoy smoking. That's what it wrecks them once people it's people when people because people enjoy drinking They enjoy this and that or they enjoy exercising they enjoy praying and those of us who have not passed through this will look at them You're like we you're a weirdo from a planet some other one Why because we have not got through the discipline one once you endure discipline I want to challenge each one of you encourage you please I know that the devil is lying to you and says the discipline will last all your life It won't last all your life if you stick with it there comes a point discipline switches to delight and when the delight comes into your life There will be the last step difference It's when your life will start being different David says I will be like a tree not like a bush not like a Just nobody he says I will be successful and then you see the difference first of all if you exercise You will see the difference in your body You will see the difference in your finances You will see the difference in a spiritual climate in your house when financial deaths and financial struggles and problems are gone But not nobody arrives at the difference see we all want the difference we come to church and we say give me the difference But when I give us the steps today many of us were like well well well that's not for me I've tried and it didn't work for me. No, well usually what we do we try is we try with this We make this but we don't endure through we don't go through and want to challenge each one of you your life Can get better your life can change you can't live your life without smoking You can't live your life without doing things that you constantly feel guilty about You can't live your life without you know feeling always bad about yourself and about yourself image You can't live your life without regrets because you didn't go to school No, you can't go to school and you can't finish school You can't live your life without with you know in the morning spending time with God and actually walking around and saying you know What I have a relationship with God I speak with God You know what I gave my life to God. I'm a giver. I'm a different person, but all of that does not come by miracle It comes by steps Where have you got stuck? Get unstuck day Maybe it's in the area of decision. You're afraid to make a decision to give your life to Jesus You're afraid but your life will change Maybe it's in the area of giving you're afraid to make a decision make a decision with the things that you want Stick with it until you actually start loving it and Then you will see the change in your life You will see the change in your life this works in good and this works in bad This is the principles by which our life can change somebody say desire Somebody say decision Somebody say discipline delight and Difference. Amen. I worked really hard make sure that all these okay, so make sure you haven't written down, okay? but but this is what I've seen work in my life and In some decisions in some places I am at the place of difference in some I am at the place of decision And there are some areas right now that I'm at the place of desire and that I want I want to move to the Place of decision in a different areas you will be at different points, but please I ask you don't get stuck Move forward take another step and you will see God bring a difference into your life. Let's put our hands together for the Lord Jesus Christ