Running On Empty In The Christian Life

The cure for spiritual dehydration. The cure for spiritual dehydration. And many Christians are dehydrated.

I brought an example. I hid so nobody could see it early. This is many.

This is many believers, is it not? There might be a little something. Oh, yeah, okay. I come to church now and then.

There's no overflow. That's not going to satisfy anybody. Spiritual dehydration.

Many believers are dehydrated spiritually. There's no spiritual life. So they can't pour into their family.

They can't pour into others. They can't make a difference. They're dehydrated spiritually.

And the word, of course, we know what it means. When the fluid level exit is greater than the fluid level entering, we are spiritually dehydrated. Or physically dehydrated, I should say.

But isn't that ironic? Maybe I'll keep it right here as a good reminder. Isn't that ironic and parallels the spiritual realm? When we have less of God, it's exiting. Too busy.

There should be tears. It's not my house. I mean, guys, check your hearts.

And when that exit of God's presence and His power and the quenching and grieving of the Spirit, when that happens, when it exits, we become spiritually dehydrated because we need that spiritual hydration. That's what's happening in the lives of many Christians. And I know it can happen to me too.

No doubt, no doubt, there are many, many here this morning or listening later who are dehydrated spiritually. Basically, it's no thirst for God. No desire.

You know the difference between there's a movie that you can't wait to see? Oh, it's going to be here Friday. I remember I was running into people like jumping up and, oh, I can't believe the new Spider-Man's coming out Friday. Why are you that excited about church? Or about God? Can you imagine church is coming up Sunday? I can't wait.

Now, many churches are not on fire. I got it. But there should be an expecting God to move and a desire because you're hungry for Sunday because of what you're feeding all week.

And this is my 20s. Spiritual dehydration. There's no passion.

There's no zeal. The Bible's boring. Worship, we're yawning.

And many are dehydrated spiritually. And so I'm hoping John 4 can really, really challenge our hearts this morning. And so this is an incredible story when Jesus knew that the Pharisees knew about Him and knew that He was baptizing people.

Actually, He didn't baptize people. His disciples baptized people. He left.

He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. But He needed to go through Samaria. He needed to go through Samaria.

Who has King James here? Alright, probably says, I must need to go to Samaria. There's a change of plans. And the reason you don't have the handout is I don't want you reading ahead.

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and so are His stops. Amen to that? The Lord will stop you. He will redirect you.

But you've got to be full in order to pour out into others. Why does He redirect you sometimes? For your comfort? For your convenience? So you can relax, take a long nap, and vacation. Sometimes, all those things are good, but He redirects often for others.

Redirects your course for others. And so He said, I have to go to Samaria. And so He came to Samaria.

And He actually went to the plot of ground that Jacob gave his son Joseph. Remember the story in Genesis where Jacob gave the plot of ground to Joseph and they actually built Jacob's well there. And what they did is they dig way down and they find the water table.

And the water actually rises up a little bit and they're able to just keep... because that water table pours in. It's an equal level. Your water table I hear is about 15 feet.

Leona Valley, do you guys know that? Alright. Before I did this, I would run heavy equipment and I would come find that water table. It was always about 15, 16 feet depending on where the location here.

Sometimes wells go down 150 feet. And you'll see those wells are looking for water. Sometimes they'll go from place to place on a piece of property and can't find the water.

And so they happen to find this incredible spring of water. It was still from Jesus' day. Gosh, you're going, how many years? Some of you mathematicians.

Are we well over 1,200 years? Maybe from when... Dave, Don, do you guys know? Do it in your head real quick. Let's say I'm well over, was I close? 1,200 years, 1,500 years. It's an old well.

And we'll figure out that number soon. So it's a very old well. And this lady is there and Jesus is very tired from His journey.

And so He's set by the well, possibly on top of the well, on the bricks that surround it. He sits by the well and He's tired. And it's a good reminder for us that if we go to the next screen here, that He was tempted.

Jesus was tempted in all points like you. Are you aware of that? Isn't that weird? Well, how could He be tempted with this? He wasn't ever married. Well, when Hebrews talks about tempted in all points, it basically means the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life.

So even Satan tempted Him with the pride of life. Show off. Show off, Lord.

Show them that You're the Son of God. And if you do this, you bow to Me, I will give you all the kingdoms of the earth. Lust of the flesh, turn this rock into stone.

I'm sorry, turn this stone into bread. And so He was tempted, meaning, here's what it means, His flesh and His body was tempted by those things, but He never sinned. Sinless, perfect, amazing.

And that's why He was the perfect sacrifice for our sins. So He's tired. He's sitting on a well.

Picture this, a well sitting on a well. You'll get it on your drive home maybe. That's rich.

A woman of Samaria came to draw water. So here's this woman, probably not that, not the five gallon, probably, you know, you've seen pictures with it on their shoulders and they're carrying as much water as they can up and down to get, that's how they would get water. So anytime you don't know what to pray for, thank God for running water.

Electricity. There's lots of things to pray, thank God. Can you imagine living back in this time? Some of you might have liked that, but I'm not sure I would have.

So He's tired. Here comes this woman to draw water. And Jesus said, give me a drink.

Give me a drink. Because His disciples had gone away into a city to buy food. So here's something that really stood out to me.

Often we must give in order to receive. So Jesus starts a conversation with, give me, and I'm about ready to tell you what you'll get. He didn't go right into, hey, by the way, I'm the Messiah.

I don't know if it's a test or heart, I don't know, but we know the principle of reaping and sowing. Give me, and did you know that God still asks for something? Wait a minute, Shane, I don't know about this. Well, it's not a study on this topic, but God actually asks for something before He'll do something.

Present your bodies as, you present your bodies as living sacrifice. What do I desire? I desire a contrite and broken heart. See, you gotta come to God with that first.

That I will not, some translations, despise, cast away, throw away, discard. I will not do that. But see, you have to come to Him with the contrite.

That's why many people never receive from God, folks. It's give me, give me, give me, give me, give me. Fix this, fix this, fix this, fix this.

Do this, do this, do this, do this. And He's not a butler in heaven at your every whim. He's not a genie in a bottle.

This is the Lord Jesus Christ, sovereign God of the earth. We don't, He doesn't bow to us. We bow to Him.

And He's, I don't know if it's a test, I don't know what it is, but give me a drink. And she could have said, no, you get your own. Because remember, we don't know the setup, but it's probably, you know, down there and bringing the water back up, or it's a process to give Him a drink.

She probably wants every ounce that she can have. But we have to give in order to receive. Let me tell you a verse that stood out to me earlier this year, Psalm 41.

I think we have it up there. Blessed is he who considers the poor. The Lord will deliver him in his time of trouble.

The Lord will persevere him and keep him alive. Or preserve, I should say. And he will be blessed on earth.

You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness. You will sustain him on his sickbed.

If you care for others. If you care for the poor. If you are considerate of others.

And often, we want to do the opposite when we're sick. Self-preservation, isolation, fear, anxiety, worship. I mean, worship, worry.

That's how you replace worship is with worry. But he says, no, if you are considerate to others, if you do this, then I will do this. The principle of reaping and sowing is huge, especially in this area of spiritual dehydration.

And maybe for some of you that are spiritually dehydrated, and you kind of like it. You need to ask God to give you that desire to break out of it. Then the woman of Samaria said to him, how is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

So normally what would happen is, on the well, the lady would either see, or she knew he was a Jew, would not go up there, or he would see her and not talk and turn. Because it's unclean. There's no fellowship.

There's no talking. The Samaritans were, you know, half Jew, half basically marrying the world with the Jewish religion. And there was no respect for them.

And so Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. A Jew would not be dealing with this woman. But it's a good reminder that Jesus did not break the law, He broke legalism.

Jesus never broke the law, He fulfilled the law. But He broke legalism. In other words, God's Word says to reach out to the sojourner and those who are your enemies.

And so legalism can get us trapped into a mindset to where we think we're obeying God, but it's not from the right heart. We're very legalistic about things. And what happens is you become critical, angry, you develop a certain critical spirit, you're there picking apart worship, you're picking apart what translation of the Bible, you're picking apart this and picking apart that, you've got friends that you're picking apart, and you can't, you know, this and that, and people, we're coming into October and you're gonna, you know, legalistic against people who celebrate Halloween.

You know, things that I don't celebrate, I don't think people should, but I'm not gonna be mean-spirited and things like, but that's what a legalistic mindset is. It's a self-exalted position of the heart minus, it's got some obedience in there, but minus the grace and the mercy and the love. That's what it's minus from that.

And that's many people, many Christians, what happens is the more they read the Bible, the more, you'll see most legalists are very well-educated in the Bible. Those who are not well-educated in the Bible are usually not legalists, they're lukewarm. Isn't that interesting how that works? Lukewarm, carnal, I don't wanna read the Bible, I don't wanna be convicted, I wanna live my life, but then the legalist, I've read my Bible all week.

I got through it. And one year, how about you? I'm more spiritual than you. Listen to me.

You can learn from me. He broke legalism, not the law. Jesus answered and said to her, oh, woman, if you knew.

He didn't even answer her question. Don't you love that about Jesus? A lot of times He doesn't even answer a person's question. He's like, Jesus, are there few who are saved? You enter by the narrow gate.

Wait, are there few or not? I mean, and the Pharisees, because He's answering actually with a powerful statement. So He said to her, woman, if you knew the gift of God, if you knew I am a gift from God, I am the Messiah, if you knew what I could do for you, and who it was that says to you, give me a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water. So a couple things.

If you knew the gift of God, if you knew the gift of God, people need to know. That's the power of your testimony. The middle point right here, I'm not gonna skip the others, just wanna focus on this for a minute.

You don't have, and I run, Shane, I don't know what to tell them. I don't have, I don't know a lot of theology. You know, you guys use big words, and I, you don't, I don't, when I talk to people, I don't say, well, you know, based on propitiation and the laws first mentioned in the Bible and looking at the Hebrew breakdown of that verse and the present participle of that, and then, you know, if you take in pneumatology and then the eschatology and your soteriology, your salvation, you just tell them what God did for you.

Well, I don't know about you, but here's what God's doing for me. Here's how He says, and that's what draws them in. That's what draws them in.

Oh, if He did that for them, He can do it. And then what happens though, as you're talking, the Holy Spirit begins to convict them. And they feel like, why am I feeling this way? Why, I need to repent, I need to believe.

So you're just sharing. You're just sharing what God has done for you or is doing for you. You know, it's one thing, and that's what I talked about earlier with healing.

It's so great, but it's also very encouraging to tell people, hey, God hasn't healed, but here's how He sustains. Here's how He gets us through even when He doesn't do those things. Or He may, you just keep pressing it.

You don't know, but God sustains in both environments. Actually, one keeps you a little bit closer to Him. And it's incredible.

But people need to know the power of your testimony. And even though they don't listen, or anybody, are you being cussed out? Or don't talk to me about that. That's okay, at least they know.

And you can share when those moments present themselves. But look at this living water, living water. What is living water? It nourishes, it sustains, it gives life, and it restores, it refreshes, and it renews.

That's what this living water that Jesus spoke of. It nourishes you, it sustains you. Guys, you were not designed to go a long time without just the presence of God and the fullness of the Spirit and seeking Him.

You will wither and die spiritually. You will become spiritually dehydrated. And that's what living water's supposed to do.

Same thing as normal water does. It nourishes and it sustains. It gives life and it restores.

It refreshes and renews. Put a water hose, a slow drip on a dead piece of grass, come back a week later, it's gonna be the greenest spot and the highest blades because it's soaked in that water. It's soaked in the presence of God and worship and prayer.

And that word soaking, there's a lot of negative connotations, but it's also biblical. Because what it means is you're soaking in more of God through prayer and worship and reading and studying, keeping a leash on a short leash and getting your heart right and getting your attitudes right, and you're just soaking in the presence and power of God. That living water, this is not water of which you drink and then you forget about.

It's a constant nourishment. And I love this part too. Give me a drink.

Give me a drink. And you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water. And as we're talking about this ask, she asked, as we go through, that word ask actually has a richer meaning.

It doesn't mean what we think. Remember how I talk about that word often? If you would have asked, if you would have begged for, if you would have sought, if you would have been fully surrendered to my will, I would answer that cry. And then the woman said, sir, you have nothing to draw with.

How are you going to get this water? The well's very deep. And then while you're at it, where do you get the living water? So she did the mistake that many of us do. We try to view the supernatural with the lens of the natural.

How many of you try to figure out what God is doing in advance? Oh, there's a lot more. Because we look through the natural lens, right? How I feel, my touch, feel, taste. And we don't see what God is talking about.

Even this topic. Even this topic of living water. She's not understanding what do you mean by living water? Maybe it's the type of water that will flow down the mountain and always be at my house.

Is there a lot of algae? So she's looking through the lens of naturally what she sees, but Jesus is going to talk to her about the spiritual realm. Sir, you have nothing to draw from, but where, and she's interested, it looks like, where do you get that living water? That should be your question this morning. God, I want the living water.

I want this water. Where do I get it? How do I get it? And that desperation fuels desire. A desire for more of Him, and you begin to pursue Him.

And Lord, I need to find this living water. Where is it? I desire it. And now you're fulfilling the verse.

If you seek Me, you will find Me. If you seek with Me with all of your heart, you will find Me. I'm not hiding up by Saturn.

I'm here. The Bible says an ever-present help in time of need. An ever-present help means right now.

Right now, I look to the hills, but where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord. Right now, an ever-present help in time of need. Who can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus that is present now and available now.

What can separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus? Nothing can separate me. Where or how? Can you imagine if we got back to that desperation? Because, let's be honest, this topic is not like you turn on a light switch. Oh, I'll just do this and... Oh, I'm so full of the Spirit.

I went from upset and a mean sinner and a mean husband to now, I'm just walking on the water. I turned on the light switch. Sometimes that happens.

But more than often, it's a pursuit. It's pulling up that living water. Man, it's way down there.

It's way down there, but I'm not giving up. I'm persevering. I need that living water.

Where is it? And it talks about that in all-consuming passion, in all-consuming fire. And then, so, living water. But then she says, well, are you greater than our father Jacob? She's asking Jesus if He's greater than Jacob.

And that's who gave us this well to drink from. And I appreciate her heart, because she's got good questions. Those are normal questions.

But maybe we need to take a greatness break. Or a break focused on greatness. How great is our God? You know that worship song? How great is our God? And you think about everything, and that's who we're praying to.

I know I bring this up a lot, but it just blows my mind that the scale and size of the universe. You know how big a galaxy is? How many galaxies are inside the universe? I don't know if they know. How many stars? I don't know if you can count that high anymore.

That God is who we're here worshiping. That God is who we're here praying to. He's not in some faraway galaxy where two or three are gathered.

He is there. He is there. I inhabit the praises of My people.

That will change your perspective. That will change your prayer life. Praying for your prodigals this morning.

Praying for health and different things this morning. And your marriage or court cases or financial. That God hears.

Now whether something happens right away is another thing. And here's why. God knows the future.

We always want things quickly. But He knows often there's a delayed process that could be a blessing. And so when she said, are you greater? Jesus answered and said, whoever, again, He doesn't even answer her.

Oh, by the way, I am. Now He just says, whoever drinks of this water will thirst again. In other words, this water that you're drinking of, you will thirst again.

And so many people, even Christians, you keep drinking from a well that will never satisfy. Maybe a habit, a relationship, an addiction, something you keep running to, it will never satisfy. The goal of sin is to take you out.

It takes you farther than you want to go. It keeps you longer than you want to stay. It costs you more than you want to pay.

Nothing satisfies. That's why you'll see people go from even people who have huge issues with shopping. Right? They feel so great.

And then the next day they're taking stuff back. That new car smell. How long does that last? And then they're regretting they bought it.

And they have to pay him in. You get into a relationship and you're excited about it, and then months in, you're like, this does not satisfy. And He said, whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him... Notice this.

Again, we could get into how they break down the Scriptures. But, I give him. It's what Jesus will offer.

What He's going to give in exchange for something. Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. In other words, once you drink of His well, once you have that relationship and you're saved and you're forgiven, you have the Holy Spirit, there's nothing that even... What's a close second? Well, that's a close second to my relationship with the Lord.

Nothing. There's no second. Now of course, doubt comes into our minds.

We struggle because the mind is enmity. It can't make a truce with God. It is at war with God.

The flesh we live with is at war with God. So I have that war within, as do you. But if we're honest and we get our hearts right, we realize there's nothing that will satisfy.

I can turn to Him in times of darkness and He brings the light. I can turn to Him in times of confusion and He brings the clarity. I don't want anything... That's why I've had people tell me this before.

I don't know if it was in the prayer room. Okay, Shane, you're a Christian. The Bible.

Why don't you at least open to reading about other religions? Because I have no desire. Well, that's pretty arrogant. You have the truth, but nobody else does.

I've drank of the living water and I'm never thirsty again. I don't know about you. See, that's why you keep looking.

You're still thirsty. Maybe Buddha will offer it. Maybe Harry Krishna will offer it.

Maybe Joseph Smith and Brigham Young and the Papacy and Mohammed and this type of movement. My inner self, my inner being, this chi and yoga and all these... You just keep going. I've sought all these different things, all this different spirituality.

And you are still thirsty. You are still thirsty until you die, unless you turn to the living water and you drink deeply of that well in which you will never thirst again. That's why so many people come to Him and they say, Christ, I'm glad I found You.

My journey is over. I found the living God. Oh, I rest in His presence and in His mercy.

And I will never drink again of another living water. That's why all this deconstructionism is a joke. When I watch these guys on YouTube, you never drink deeply of the living water.

You never even had a relationship. You had religion. That's a big term.

Have you seen those deconstructionism? We're deconstructing our faith. And I've watched just even this week, it's like, well, when I was a Christian, I realized that the Bible had a lot of errors. Okay, can you name one? Of course he didn't.

That's what they always do. Tell him to name one. And then you can find the answer.

It's pretty easy. Now, are there things I don't understand when I read Genesis? Yeah. But I'm not going to hell over a mystery.

Because I know with certainty that Jesus is the only way. The only truth, the only life. That's what we need to know.

And that's why they keep searching and keep looking because they've not been satisfied. That's what it does. It satisfies the deepest desires of our heart.

The longing. But the water that I give Him will become in Him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. So it's interesting, and I don't want to get too technical here, but it could just say, but the water that I give Him will lead to everlasting life.

But I don't think it's an accident of language. Why is it a fountain of water? A fountain of water. And that springs up.

So it's not the fountain. Jesus is everlasting life, but there's a fountain of water springing up, life-giving water into us. And yes, that eventually leads to everlasting life.

But, can we just be honest? Well, I always say I'm going to guess one for you. And I've talked about this before, but I don't recognize half of you sometimes, so it's good to repeat. Where is this fountain of living water in most of you? Where's this bubbling over of joy and love? I can't wait to get to worship.

There's a lot of critical spirits, gossiping, slander. Where's this fountain of living water? Now, I'm not up here like, how could you? Because I have the enemy who wants to put a plug in mine too. Often.

But you pull that plug out by repentance and worship and doing what you know you need to do, but you don't want to do it. That's just pride. And you keep that fountain open.

I'm serious this morning. Where is this fountain of living water? If it was in all of our hearts, wouldn't we just walk in and you could just see in our eyes there's joy and there's love and a good to see. Where we leave here, we go to Vons or Trader Joe's or Sprouts or the restaurant.

And it's just flowing out. I ordered steak, not chicken. Oh, there's no parking spots.

I've got to go park out in the dirt. Am I being honest? I don't want to be here. I don't like what this guy's saying.

Why am I here? My mom dragged me. Or my friend. Or I had to go to church.

The Christian life is a life of living water. He who believes in Me, as the Scriptures say, out of his belly will flow... slime. Out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.

Guys, where is this living water? Sometimes people look so frumpy and grumpy and mean. Like every Sunday. Like they're never at the altar.

They're never at prayer meetings. They're pissed off all the time. Can I say that? Is that okay? No? God, I'll remember for the second service.

Who down here just said that? Was it a megachurch pastor? I'm like, okay. Maybe Jack Hibbs. I don't know.

Anyway, but you know what I'm saying. Where's the joy, folks? Where's the love? You're spiritually dehydrated. When Jesus comes, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and lukewarmness.

So where's the fire? Is this hitting anybody? So if there's rivers of living water, out of us will spring the rivers of living water. If you believe on Me, as the Scriptures say, out of your belly will flow rivers of living water. He's going to baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Why is the Christian life so lukewarm, so callous, so cold, and the majority of people just have no fire or zeal for the Lord? It's because they are spiritually dehydrated and they don't repent. I want the presence of God so much that I will repent. I will own things that I don't think I need to own.

Oh, trust me. John 7.38 He who believes in Me as the Scriptures say, remember I read it somewhere. Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

Do you nourish others? Here's a good test. Or do you drain? Now I know sometimes we drain. But overall, do you want to be a nourisher or a drainer? Do you restore things or do you tear them down? You know when you get on something, you're just a tear downer.

Just tear down, just tear down, just tear down. Just tear down. That's not overflowing with the Spirit.

You will say some hard things when they need to be said, but ultimately, it's to restore. Hey, I know that hurt, but I love you enough to tell you the truth. I want to restore that.

Do you refresh others or do you exhaust them? You know the exhaustors. Like you just want to avoid, oh, I don't want to talk to them. Because you know it's not going to be refreshing.

They're not going to be encouragers. And I don't know why, I just love this verse. Sir, you can almost hear her.

Sir, give me this water. Give me this water that I might not thirst again. I don't want to come here to draw anymore.

Well, you're going to have to still do that. But give me this water. She still doesn't understand because she still doesn't experience it yet.

And so that's what you need to do this morning. Maybe that's why I'm giving this message again is to encourage you. You have to say, Lord, give me this water.

Give me this living water. I've grown cold. I've grown callous.

I've become spiritually dehydrated. I've become a legalist. I've become critical.

I've become arrogant. I've drifted from you. Sure, I can read the Bible now and then, but I've lost my passion.

I've lost my zeal. I mean, church, I don't want to really go to, I put you on the back burner, not the front burners. And Lord, I need that back again.

Give me this water again, Lord. Give me that. I want that cry of the prophet that says, oh, His word is in my heart like a burning fire.

It's shut up in my bones. I'm weary of holding it back. If God's word or power or presence isn't like a burning fire in your heart, you've got to ask yourself why.

The problem isn't with God, it's with us. Because God, I love the Old Testament imagery, and I don't like taking Scripture out of context. But when He says, you prepare the sacrifice, and I will light the fire, and then the priests, their job was to keep the fire burning.

There's an interesting parallel there. You've got to keep that fire burning in your heart. Give me this water.

There's a desperation there. Even though she didn't understand, she desired, and that's why I want to tell people about the Holy Spirit, because I get this often, or I don't know, I saw this YouTube video of somebody acting weird. Yeah, that's to be expected.

Don't let that stop you from your relationship with the Lord. Desire, I don't quite understand how it works. The wind blows where it wants.

The Holy Spirit does what, sometimes the sermon comes alive and it's on fire. I can't wait to preach. Other times it's a grind, it's hard.

Sometimes I get up and I just can't wait to worship and read the Bible. Sometimes I get up and I don't want to do any of those things. It doesn't matter how you feel.

It doesn't matter what you understand. There has to be that desire. Lord, I want this again.

I need this. And so Jesus checked her heart. Call your husband.

Call your husband. She could have said, okay, yeah, all right, I'm out of here. I have no husband.

And again, we don't want to read anything, but I sense brokenness. I do, I sense repentance and brokenness. I have no husband.

And Jesus saved her right there. He saved her right there. She didn't have, I'm not talking about salvation, but just the conversation.

He said, you're well said. In other words, you chose your words wisely. You said that rightly.

That you have no husband. For you have had five husbands, and the one whom you have now is not your husband. And that you have truly spoken.

I mean, if you go back, Jesus said, I need to go to Samaria. Is this woman committing adultery? And the one you have now is not your husband. I don't know what else that is.

Possibly, I'm not going to read too much into this. But He goes to Samaritan for a woman, possibly caught in sexual sin. No hope, lost.

I don't know if you've ever been on your sixth marriage, but there's not a lot of hope there. You feel like a failure. I'm sure I'm not on my sixth, but this is what I've been told.

Did you know the more you trade it in, the harder it gets? Divorce rates for second marriages are higher than first, and then you get into third, oh my goodness. Fourth, watch out. But praise God, if that's you, God's got you.

We're not here to look down. I said it means I'd be on my seventh marriage in a halfway house if it wasn't for the Lord. And so would many of you, so don't look at me that way.

You know if it had not been for the Lord on your side. Come on, church. Church.

I would be, I don't know if there's plots available, but I'd be in Lancaster Cemetery. Years ago, years ago. And you wonder why some of us can't stop worshiping the Lord.

Because how many of you know if you would have died in your sin, you would be in hell. That is a wake up call. And I often say to my mom, oh Shane, but you were saved in your 20s.

I'm like, I think so. I was a prodigal. I was always convicted.

I do think so, but boy, I didn't want to find out. And so when we come and we worship, we thank God for what He's done. That worship song, what He's done.

What He's done. Look at what He's done. But I just love this.

He went to this woman. And now we have this story to read forever. Because what happened is repentance and confession took place.

In her heart, no doubt. I don't have a husband. And not one excuse did she make.

The woman said to Jesus, but you don't know what I've went through. You don't know about that first five, how challenging they were, how tough they were. You don't know what they did to me.

How can you say that? Because when you're up to that number, you've got to take responsibility too, to some degree. And she said, no excuses. Let me encourage you this morning, if you are an excuse maker, blame shifter, stop.

ASAP. I can do it too. I love to just shift the blame.

Then I don't have to take responsibility. But for the deep work of the Spirit to take place, we need to own what we need to own. Some of you have done all that you can do.

I'm not talking to you. I'm assuming you realize that. But for the vast majority of people listening to this message, we have become really good at blame shifting and not confessing and repenting.

And that's what cleanses the line. Do you know what fuels this back up? Is repentance. Repentance will fill that water right back up.

So much so that it's, that's what, I love that word, because what you're really doing, if you think about this, the word means not only a change of mind, but what are you doing? And now I'm actually walking the way that God wants me to walk. You don't think that will restore that relationship? It's like, come on, son. You're walking my direction now.

You're walking with me in accordance to me. Now I can lead you. Now I can guide you.

Now I can do all this. But if you're walking away from me, continuing in that destructive path, I can't do much with that. You need to repent and realign your heart with my heart.

And as a result, you get that living water. You get that living water. And so I perceive that you are a prophet.

Oh, I bet you did. It's kind of funny, commentators, when you read commentators, it's hard because many times they don't always agree on things when you're just looking for like, of course, all the essentials. But when it's like, well, here's what I think.

What was Paul's thorn, for example? 50 different commentaries will say 50 different things. But she said, sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. And what I'm thinking, she's like, while I have you here, let me ask you an important question.

That's what it looks like, doesn't it? You're a prophet. So because of that, I need to know about worship. By the way, the worship wars started 2,000 years ago.

You guys know what the worship wars are? Good, maybe we don't know anymore. But many people, they have their preferences. And then preference becomes the standard.

Why are you singing those songs? I like these songs. Those are a little touchy feely. We need these kind.

And my favorite I've heard over the years, Shane, men don't like a lot of those emotional songs. You need to, you know, we need to have some manly songs. And I get it.

The reason is though, your heart's not full of God's Spirit. That's the bottom line. Because I remember when I transitioned, I came out of, you know, even my brother just sent me a picture of Elk hunting in Idaho.

Right, they got 30 at six, 30, 30. I came from that. So men in worship, that doesn't make sense.

That's for women. That's what women do. We go hunt, we fish, we make bullets, and things like that.

But then when you have that cry out to God in that living water, living water worships. And we need the emotional songs. Well, they're too sappy.

Oh, how I love you. Yeah, you should be singing that, you guys. Grow up.

What are you talking about, some Viking song? I mean, but in all cases, it's an excuse to hide their spiritual apathy. And again, we see the worship wars. Old hymns, new hymns.

Contemporary, not contemporary. Sitting, standing. Arms up, arms down.

My vision's a little skewed because I've experienced a lot of different things. I remember people, they've left here like, the worship's too loud, too emotional. And then the wife will say, that's what he is.

So I've seen it all, the worship. And you do have to be careful with the worship. I got it.

There's some songs we don't do anymore. There's things we're careful about. But she said, because you're a prophet, you know what's going on.

She didn't even say, wow, I can't believe that. She goes, okay, he knows my business. He's a prophet.

So let me ask you this question. I've been dying to know. Because when it comes to worship, you gotta know if you're right.

Our father, Samaritans, worship on this mountain. But you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place you have to worship. At the temple of God or on this mountain.

Hey, we're worshiping God. We need to know what is right. And if you're right, why are you right? You worship what you do not know.

We know, in other words, Jesus, the disciples, we know what we worship. And even the Jews, even unbelieving Jews, knew who God was intellectually. Salvation came from the Jews.

It's of the Jews. Jesus is the Messiah. However, but the hour is coming.

And check this out. It's now here. He says it.

So it's been this way for 2,000 years. That's why true worship is not bound by a physical location or a sacred site or outward rituals. You know that, right? The hour is coming and now is when the true worshipers, so you can be here, you can just be singing, you can be doing one of these things, and whatever, that's true worship.

They will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. So in spirit means you have the Holy Spirit. You have the Holy Spirit.

And actually, the Bible says it cries, the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, cries Abba Father. You have to worship. So all of those who think they're worshiping God, they are not worshiping God if they do not know Jesus Christ and have a relationship.

They are not worshiping God in spirit. They are going through ritual and certain ritual movements and praying at this time. It's all mechanical.

There's no true worship because they're not worshiping God in spirit and then in truth. So when you worship God, it's got to be the true worship of God. You have to know the true and living God.

Because I've seen videos. You see me out in the sequoias or out in these meadows, and it's this new age group, and they're like humming and holding hands and then they interview you like, I felt so great after the weekend. I bet you did.

It was just relaxing. But you're not worshiping. You're not worshiping the true God.

You are out of sync with the Creator. You need to repent and you need to believe in Jesus. Hollywood is great at this, aren't they? And this message is heard in Hollywood Monday through Friday in the morning.

So hopefully we'll get some of those people coming on the freeway and challenge them. All this yoga and spirituality and crystals, that's not worship at all. Actually, I should answer, this question came in.

Should a Christian do yoga? No, I would not do yoga. I would call it Christian stretching and stretch somehow. Those are all poses to God.

Now, you're not going to hell. It's just not a good idea to stretch and pose to other gods. I don't know what doors it could open.

Just stretch. There's plenty of videos online. But these things, oh see, they're poses of worship.

Millions and millions of people think they're worshiping God and they're not. They're not worshiping God in spirit or in truth. Now, this part, are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? For the Father is, God is looking for those who worship Him.

I mean, it's one thing if we come and we worship, but God is seeking, is looking for true worshipers. Now, people say why? I mean, probably to bless. Probably to honor.

Probably to fill with His Spirit. Probably to come alongside and build up and strengthen and lead. He's looking.

And then you can parallel with the Old Testament. The eyes of the Lord go to and fro throughout the whole earth. What's He doing? Looking for those, looking for those who passionately pursue Him.

The eyes of the Lord go to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are loyal to Him. So God is, I don't know how else you'd read this, He's looking for the genuine worshipers. So just that, even though you don't feel it, even though you don't see immediate results to your prayers.

Anybody ever live there? I have, many times. Still living there. Still camped out at that campsite.

But I will pursue Him and seek Him until the day I die, as will many of you. And He's looking for that. Here's somebody, I can go through anything as long as I have the presence of God.

As long as I have the power of God and the assurance of His salvation. You can take a person through a lot of things as long as they know the Lord is with me. Because they know this is just an earthly journey.

Listen, you guys ready to hear this? Okay, listen. That's your life. That's your life compared to eternity.

And you're worried about... Incredible, God's looking. Jesus said it. For the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

God is Spirit. Like I said, you have to have the Holy Spirit. How do you have the Holy Spirit? You repent and you believe.

And you are then born again. That's why many people have it intellectually, but that's why they walk away from the faith. That's why they deconstruct.

I knew I was on that deconstruct tangent for a minute. They never had genuine saving faith. They're deconstructing because they had, well, what about, can you lose your salvation? Listen, you guys, I'm not going to get... I just know they never had genuine saving faith because you don't walk away from God.

You might temporarily as a prodigal son, but you're miserable. You're not all excited about making a video to tell people how God doesn't exist. God forbid.

Intellectual knowledge. God is Spirit. Those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

This is why not only do we want to be a church, and R.T. Kendall, I was listening to a video just yesterday, he talked about with churches, they have the passion and the zeal and they're excited and worship is great, but they need some truth. That's why they're letting all this weird stuff happen and calling people out and holding people accountable. It's just like, man, if it's odd, it's God.

If it's love, it's God. If it's just, man, just let God handle all that. No, you're called to handle it as a church.

You're called to rightly divide the Word of Truth. And hey, that's not biblical. We need to call that out.

We need to guard the church from things that are not good in God's light. And so you have to have the Spirit and truth, but then you have other churches all just the truth. And you know it because they look grumpy.

Probably the King James, no offense, but just grumpy and mad and angry and pounding the pulpit all the time. And just, hey, put your arms down. Don't get too excited, ma'am.

We don't do that here. I know churches, the deacons will go and they'll go, ma'am, put your arms down. We don't do that here.

Huh? No? Yeah. For a Bible teacher, I respect the church too, but it's like, are you kidding me? Don't get too, ma'am. Oh gosh, are you starting to cry? Are you starting, we got a prayer room.

Well, they don't have a prayer room usually, but can you go out in the lobby? Hallelujah, praise the Lord. What's that? Don't say, ma'am. Was that a tongue I heard? I'm joking, you guys aren't ready yet.

But that's what it is, the truth side. Oh no, I wasn't done yet, but you can come on up. Come on, we'll have them on.

So that's the truth side, right? They quench the spirit. They quench the spirit of God. Richard, you can even strum quietly.

It might actually work pretty good here. So they must worship in spirit and in truth. God is looking for true worshipers.

Why? What's so important with worship? West side, why do you emphasize it so much? Why? Because worship breaks down the gates of hell. Worship pulls down strongholds. That's what it does.

I don't know about you, but this is how I fight my battles on my face before Almighty God. And worship breaks the gates of hell. It pulls down strongholds.

It demantles demons. It annihilates deception. It restores the brokenness of our family and of our lives and of our nation.

Church, we got to get back to worshiping. How do you get through what you're going through? I worship. I don't know about you.

I love the Word. I read the Word. I saturate my Word.

But sometimes I got to put down the Word and get on my knees and begin to call out to Almighty God to come down and visit your people again. And then she said, oh, I know the Messiah is coming. I know that He is coming.

And when He comes, He will tell us all things. Oh, what a statement! Jesus said to her, I who speak to you am He. That's one of these things.

Right? If that's a mic drop moment right there. Can you imagine the look on her face? Woman, I am He. Oh my God, my God.

She probably said, my prayers have been answered. The Messiah is here. I've been restored.

I've been whole. He's here. And this is what I talked about last week, so I'm not going to go into detail, but this is why it's so important.

She said, I know the Messiah is coming. She knew intellectually. See, many listening, you know intellectually.

You know intellectually. You can say the same thing. Oh, I know Jesus is coming.

I heard about it in church. That's intellectual knowledge. Intellectual knowledge will not save you.

The heart has to break and cry out to God and repent, confess Him as Lord and Savior. There is no other king in my life but King Jesus and you have to cry out and ask for Him to restore your life. Do you know Him intimately? Because even the demons know Him.

Did you know that? Does that Bible verse blow your mind? Even the demons believe in Jesus and they tremble. But they don't know Him. In other words, they're not on His side.

They have no relationship. The Bible says, return to Me with prayer and fasting. Return to Me with prayer and fasting.

That was the cry of God. The cry of God. And do you know that same call goes out today a couple thousand years later? The prophets were about 3,000 years ago, 2,700, 2,500 years ago.

And God says, you've left your first love. You're worshiping Baal, Astaroth. You're giving your children, you're putting them on the hot arms of Molech and you're killing them.

Sound familiar? Man, if I were God, here comes a meteor the size of Denver. But He says, return to Me. Return to Me with prayer and fasting and I will return to you.

Church, that's why we're in a season of fasting. We need to tell King's Stomach to shut its mouth for a season. Take it to the Lord and join us in September, October, whatever God puts on your heart.

We can all do something. Return to Me. You've drifted.

Maybe that's a message to you. Return to Me. I think the final screen, I'll just go through quickly, and this is how you rehydrate.

This is how you rehydrate. You ask. You desire it.

Say, Lord, I need that. I've drifted. Or maybe some of you, you've never had it.

You've never had the fire of God. Why do you think I do this? Why do you think I get so passionate about it? Because when you drink of that water, of living water, you will never thirst again. And you want to tell other people about it.

Hey, have you drunk deeply? Have you fully surrendered? Because God can change that. I see it all the time. Marriage problems? Get both of them full of the Spirit.

There's no more problems. They'll rip up the divorce papers. Absolutely.

They're both drinking deeply of the living water that Christ gave and they're full of the Spirit. They'll recognize their abusive relationship and they'll repent and they'll restore. There's no way around it.

For that to happen, it takes one to be rejecting God. In order for that union to take place again, they both need to get back on fire with God. And you have to pursue this.

Maybe you won't change this afternoon. Maybe you won't feel what you want to feel, but we don't go by feelings, we go by faith. You pursue and you pursue and you pursue.

Let me tell you, I can tell you one thing. The more you seek Him, the more you find Him. And the more you find Him, the more you seek Him.

You might not feel like it, but God says, I hear that cry and He might next week pour down His Spirit upon you so strong that you'll only have tears and will not have words. He will answer that commitment. When you pursue Him, you will find Him.

And you pray, you pray, you pray, and repent. Repentance restores. Repent of hard-heartedness, of arrogance, of pride.

And then what, Jane? What do I do? You worship. You worship and that renews that relationship. Isn't that where you get the fire back? You guys know.

You guys know. Prayers, I love prayer. But when prayer meets worship, something miraculous takes place.

Because Jesus said, my house will be called the house of prayer, not preaching. And prayer and worship go together.