Speaker 1: This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the audio broadcast ministry
Speaker 1: of Pastor Rick Warren. Today we continue in our series
Speaker 1: called Strategies for Stressful Times. In these lessons, Rick SHARE's
Speaker 1: biblical wisdom for navigating difficult and stressful times so that
Speaker 1: you can experience God's peace and thrive in any situation. Now,
Speaker 1: in just a little while, we're going to tell you
Speaker 1: about an amazing opportunity to partner with Daily Hope to
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Speaker 1: You can find out more by going to Pastorick dot
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Speaker 1: the word Hope to eight hundred six hundred five thousand
Speaker 1: and four. Now here's Pastor Rick Morin with part two
Speaker 1: of a message called finding the Strength to Keep going
Speaker 1: when I'm emotionally worn out.
Speaker 2: Psalm one five, verse nine says this on the screen.
Speaker 2: The Lord is good to everyone, and he shows compassion
Speaker 2: to all he has made. Did you get that The
Speaker 2: Lord is good to everyone. He shows good things to everybody,
Speaker 2: even those who are atheists, who don't believe in him,
Speaker 2: or whatever, who are rejecting him, who are mad at him.
Speaker 2: The Lord is good to everyone. And he shows compassion
Speaker 2: to all he has made. By the way, If God
Speaker 2: is good to everybody, and he shows compassion to all
Speaker 2: he's made, shouldn't you and I do the same with
Speaker 2: people we disagree with? Do you show compassion to people
Speaker 2: you disagree with? Are you good to people who you
Speaker 2: think are an enemy? God is good to everyone and
Speaker 2: compassionate with everyone. Now, because God knows every feeling you
Speaker 2: already have. And God understands every feeling, and he knows
Speaker 2: better than you do. And God loves to listen to
Speaker 2: us and even our complaints about stress and everything else
Speaker 2: and change, and he's always listening. Then God tells us
Speaker 2: to come quickly to him whenever we're stressed, whenever we're
Speaker 2: at the end of our rope, and we're ever ready
Speaker 2: to throw in the towels. That letter said whenever you're distressed. Lamentations,
Speaker 2: Chapter two, verse nineteen says, this cry out to God,
Speaker 2: cry out in the night, pour out. Can you hear
Speaker 2: this cry out in the night? Pour out your heart
Speaker 2: like water in prayer to the Lord. Have you been
Speaker 2: doing that? If you haven't, that's one of the reasons
Speaker 2: why you may be emotionally dry and drained and that
Speaker 2: do you hear the passion in that verse? Do you
Speaker 2: hear the urgency in that verse that God wants you
Speaker 2: to have? He says, cry out, not mumblesome, memorized cliche
Speaker 2: prayer for the gift and the giver and bless us
Speaker 2: food to the nourishment of our bodies and online. No,
Speaker 2: he says, cry out, say God, help me, help me.
Speaker 2: I don't know if I can keep going or not.
Speaker 2: It's just too hard. I'm about to lose it. I'm
Speaker 2: at the end of my rope. I'm out of options.
Speaker 2: I can't handle this. That's being honest to God. Now,
Speaker 2: this is the first key to gaining daily strength, the
Speaker 2: daily strength that you need in order to keep going
Speaker 2: and make it to the finish line and finish well
Speaker 2: in your life. And the first key is this, honestly
Speaker 2: tell God what I'm feeling. Now. The second key to
Speaker 2: daily strength that you're gonna need to keep going is this.
Speaker 2: You don't just honestly tell God what you're feeling. Number two,
Speaker 2: you humbly ask God for strength. I humbly ask God
Speaker 2: for strength. There's an action step and there's an attitude
Speaker 2: with each of these four keys. Psalm one h five
Speaker 2: verse for us as this look to the Lord and
Speaker 2: to his strength. That's pretty clear, He says, you know,
Speaker 2: don't look for any other source for emotional strength. Look
Speaker 2: to the Lord. Who are you looking to for emotional
Speaker 2: strength in your life? Look to the Lord for his strength.
Speaker 2: Job Chapter twelve, Verse thirteen says this God is the
Speaker 2: real source of wisdom and strength. God is the real source.
Speaker 2: So why don't you keep Why do you keep asking
Speaker 2: other people for support and for strength? God is the
Speaker 2: real source. Why don't If God is the real source
Speaker 2: of strength in your life, emotional, spiritual, mental, physical strength,
Speaker 2: why don't you keep asking for strength literally throughout your day?
Speaker 2: Not just once in the morning or once at night.
Speaker 2: Why not throughout the day? God, I needs strength as
Speaker 2: I'm going into this meeting. God, I need strength as
Speaker 2: I'm doing this doctor's appointment. God, I needs strength as
Speaker 2: I'm picking up the kids. God, I need strength as
Speaker 2: I'm preparing this task or this meal or whatever. You know,
Speaker 2: the Bible says, you do not have it because you
Speaker 2: don't ask God for it. You have not because you
Speaker 2: ask not. Did you know that about twenty times in
Speaker 2: the New Testament we are commanded by God to ask
Speaker 2: We are commanded about twenty times to ask in prayer.
Speaker 2: The Bible says, ask and it shall be given. Seek
Speaker 2: and you'll find, Knock and the door will be open.
Speaker 2: Jesus said, if you ask for anything in my name,
Speaker 2: I will do it. Jesus said, ask so that your
Speaker 2: joy will be full. You know, this week I was
Speaker 2: reading an article that said, one of the primary symptoms
Speaker 2: of emotional fatigue and emotional stress is often sleeplessness. It's
Speaker 2: insomnia that when you are emotionally empty, when your tank
Speaker 2: is empty, you have the inability to get to sleep. Now,
Speaker 2: studies have confirmed this. Scientific studies have confirmed that the
Speaker 2: more depleted you are emotionally, the harder it is for
Speaker 2: you to get to sleep or to stay asleep. And
Speaker 2: when I saw that, I thought, man, the impact of
Speaker 2: COVID and all the changes in our world has probably
Speaker 2: left millions of people sleep deprived.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope Rip will be
Speaker 1: back in just a moment with the rest of today's lesson.
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Speaker 1: at Pastororick dot com. That's pastorick dot com.
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Speaker 1: And now here's Pastor Rick Warren with the second half
Speaker 1: of today's lesson.
Speaker 2: Now, you may have never realized this, but did you
Speaker 2: know that your relationship with God can affect your sleep
Speaker 2: When you're out of fellowship with God, when you are
Speaker 2: estranged from God, when you're at war with God, he
Speaker 2: tells you do something you know I don't want to
Speaker 2: do it. When you're in rebellion against God, did you
Speaker 2: know that your body recognizes that even if you aren't
Speaker 2: consciously aware of the conflict, and your body takes it out.
Speaker 2: But when you're in harmony with God, you get the
Speaker 2: peace and you get the strength of God and the
Speaker 2: peace and the strength of God. Do you know what
Speaker 2: it does? It leads to better sleep. You know. I
Speaker 2: give you an example of this. When King David was
Speaker 2: a fugitive. He's running for his life. People were trying
Speaker 2: to kill him, and he's running for his life and
Speaker 2: he's hiding in caves. During that time, he wrote these
Speaker 2: words Psalm chapter three, verse five. He says, I can
Speaker 2: lay down, I can lie down and go to sleep,
Speaker 2: and I'll wake up again because the Lord gives me strength.
Speaker 2: See the connection between God giving you strength and you
Speaker 2: being able to sleep. So here's the second way you
Speaker 2: can gain new strength to keep going. When you feel
Speaker 2: like I don't know if I've got the energy to
Speaker 2: keep going, keep asking God for strength every day, over
Speaker 2: and over and over. God will never get tired. You
Speaker 2: can ask him fifty times or one hundred times a day.
Speaker 2: So I'm one thirty eight. Verse three says this, when
Speaker 2: I pray, you answer me, and you encourage me by
Speaker 2: giving me the strength I need. How do I get
Speaker 2: strength and need by asking for it in prayer? So
Speaker 2: I humbly ask God for strength, just like I honestly
Speaker 2: tell God what I'm feeling. Now I told you that
Speaker 2: there's a corresponding attitude for each of these four actions
Speaker 2: in developing resilience, in developing endurance, and developing an attitude
Speaker 2: of continuing to keep on, keep on. One of these
Speaker 2: attitudes is seen in the life of Daniel. There on
Speaker 2: your outline and Daniel, chapter ten Versus eleven and twelve.
Speaker 2: God told this to Daniel. Daniel was in a situation
Speaker 2: where he was under enormous stress in his culture, and
Speaker 2: God says this to Daniel, Oh, Daniel, greatly loved of God.
Speaker 2: By the way, you're greatly loved by God, Oh Daniel,
Speaker 2: greatly loved of God. Listen carefully. Since the first day
Speaker 2: you began to pray and humble yourself before your God,
Speaker 2: your request has been heard in heaven. He said, you
Speaker 2: know what, You've been praying for this for a long time.
Speaker 2: I heard the request, we answered it, decided to answer
Speaker 2: it instantly. But notice, he said, when you prayed and
Speaker 2: you humbled yourself before God, circle that word humbled. And
Speaker 2: then I want you to write down this next truth,
Speaker 2: the attitude that moves God to answer your prayers. Are
Speaker 2: you ready for this is humility, the attitude that moves
Speaker 2: God to answer your prayers. Is humility. God, I'm depending
Speaker 2: on you, I'm trusting in You. I can't do this
Speaker 2: on my own. I don't have the wherewithal I don't
Speaker 2: have the emotional energy to keep on keeping on. That
Speaker 2: admission is humility. So let's just review. If I need
Speaker 2: strength to keep going, and all of us do, You're
Speaker 2: going to need it this week? How do I have
Speaker 2: the strength to keep going when I want to just
Speaker 2: do nothing? Number One, Honestly tell God what I'm feeling
Speaker 2: and humbly ask God for his strength. Now here's the
Speaker 2: third key that the Bible teaches us to having the
Speaker 2: daily strength that you need to keep going when you're
Speaker 2: under stress or in times of great change. Here's the
Speaker 2: third key. Number three, Gratefully thank God. Gratefully thank God
Speaker 2: for all that's good despite all that's bad. Let me
Speaker 2: say that again. The third key to having the strength
Speaker 2: strength to keep going is to gratefully thank God for
Speaker 2: all that's good despite all that's bad. It's a matter
Speaker 2: of choosing what you think about, because the world is
Speaker 2: filled with both good and bad. Now here's the principle.
Speaker 2: In First Thessalonians five eighteen, the Bible says this give
Speaker 2: thanks in all circumstances. What does that not include none,
Speaker 2: give thanks in all? I looked up the word all.
Speaker 2: It means all, give thanks in all circumstances. For this
Speaker 2: is God's will for you. In Christ Jesus. People always say,
Speaker 2: I want to know God's will. What's God's will for
Speaker 2: my life? There it is God's will for your life.
Speaker 2: Is the attitude of gratitude to give thanks in all situations,
Speaker 2: in all circumstances. Now, notice don't misread that verse. It
Speaker 2: doesn't say for all things give thanks. It says in
Speaker 2: all things give thanks, give thanks in all circumstances. Doesn't
Speaker 2: say give thanks for all circumstances. You get cancer, you
Speaker 2: don't have to be thankful for that. A little child
Speaker 2: is molested, you don't have to be thankful for that.
Speaker 2: Somebody gets in an accident, you have to be thankful. Now,
Speaker 2: that's actually ridiculous. I mean, that's evil. You don't have
Speaker 2: to be thankful for evil. It doesn't say give thanks
Speaker 2: for everything. There's a lot of things that we shouldn't
Speaker 2: be thankful for. But it says in all circumstances, circle
Speaker 2: that in all circumstances, it is God's will for me
Speaker 2: to develop the attitude of gratitude. And this is the
Speaker 2: third key to keeping on. You know, I've been in
Speaker 2: ministry now fifty two years. How have I been able
Speaker 2: to keep my joy? This is one of the principles
Speaker 2: the attitude of gratitude. A number of scientific studies have
Speaker 2: concluded that the attitude of gratitude is the healthiest emotion
Speaker 2: that humans can have. In fact, every time you take
Speaker 2: time to express gratitude about anything, to anyone, to God,
Speaker 2: or to anybody else. Every time you take time to
Speaker 2: express gratitude, it helps refill your empty emotional gas tank
Speaker 2: for your own good. You need to develop the attitude
Speaker 2: of gratitude. It's one of the four keys to keeping on,
Speaker 2: keeping on, to having the strength to make it to
Speaker 2: the finished line. One of the most practical yet powerful
Speaker 2: habits that you can develop is to make a daily
Speaker 2: gratitude list. To sit down for five minutes each day
Speaker 2: and go, Okay, what am I grateful for? And you
Speaker 2: start making a list of things that you're thankful for
Speaker 2: that will strengthen your soul. Okay, This is the third
Speaker 2: key to having the energy, emotional energy to keep on
Speaker 2: keeping on. Now, it's easy to be grateful obviously, when
Speaker 2: your emotional tank is full and things are going great
Speaker 2: in your life and you don't have any problems or
Speaker 2: just a few of them, and it's much harder to
Speaker 2: find things to be thankful for when you're in a
Speaker 2: crisis or when you're facing a prolonged chronic stress. But
Speaker 2: when you're worn out, Listen, when you're worn out, or
Speaker 2: when you're experiencing burnout, emotional burnout, and you just got
Speaker 2: the bloss that's when you need the tool of gratitude
Speaker 2: the most to help refill your empty emotional gas tank. Now,
Speaker 2: the greatest example of gratitude, and this principle is found
Speaker 2: in the life of Job. Remember the story of Job.
Speaker 2: Job was the wealthiest man of his generation, very great,
Speaker 2: great man, very successful man. But he lost everything in
Speaker 2: a single day. And he did know why. What happened
Speaker 2: in a single day with Job's all of his children
Speaker 2: were murdered by terrorists, all of his crops, all of
Speaker 2: his livestock, and his home was completely destroyed in a
Speaker 2: single day. And on that same day, Job contracted a painful,
Speaker 2: deadly disease. You talk about having a bad day. His
Speaker 2: life literally collapsed overnight, and Job had every reason to
Speaker 2: be angry and to be bitter because nothing made sense.
Speaker 2: Here he is serving God, doing the right things. He
Speaker 2: was a just man, the Bible said, but nothing made sense.
Speaker 2: He literally lost everything in his life, and one day,
Speaker 2: what did Job do? He did this third point when
Speaker 2: he was in a situation where he was going, I
Speaker 2: don't know if I've got strength to go on. What
Speaker 2: he did is he gratefully worshiped God when everything around
Speaker 2: him did not make sense. Obviously, it's easy to worship
Speaker 2: God when everything's going your way, but while how do
Speaker 2: you worship God when everything's not going your way? Job
Speaker 2: chapter one, verses twenty to twenty two. It says this
Speaker 2: that in grief, Job tore his robe and shaved his head.
Speaker 2: Then he fell to the ground and he worshiped God.
Speaker 2: Is that a strange thing to do in the middle
Speaker 2: of having lost everything in your life? He fell to
Speaker 2: the ground and worshiped God. And here's what he said.
Speaker 2: Here's Job's perspective. I was born with nothing, and I'm
Speaker 2: going to die with nothing. The Lord gave and now
Speaker 2: the Lord is taken away. May the name of the
Speaker 2: Lord be praised. That's gratitude in spite of everything. The
Speaker 2: Bible says that it happened. This is the next verse.
Speaker 2: In spite of everything that had happened, Job did not
Speaker 2: sin by blaming God. Now, if you're taking notes right
Speaker 2: now on your outline, I want you to circle the
Speaker 2: phrase praised in spite of everything. Circle that phrase he
Speaker 2: praised in spite of everything? Do you do that? Or
Speaker 2: do you only thank God when things are going good
Speaker 2: in your life? You see, throughout this book, Job expresses
Speaker 2: trust and praise and gratitude to God even when he
Speaker 2: has no idea why all these problems and tragedies are
Speaker 2: happening in his life, one right after another. And when
Speaker 2: Job could not find anything, any circumstance that he could
Speaker 2: be grateful for, he just got invite it. He lost
Speaker 2: it all. What does he do? He expresses gratitude for
Speaker 2: God's character. He expresses God for what he knew God
Speaker 2: was really like. Now, that is a lesson we all
Speaker 2: need to learn. When you're going through a time and
Speaker 2: you go, I can't find anything in my life to
Speaker 2: be thankful for. Well, I bet you could. Okay, I
Speaker 2: bet you could. But if you were not able to
Speaker 2: find anything you could be thankful for in your life,
Speaker 2: you could still be thankful for who God is, and
Speaker 2: Job shows us that in spite of how I feel,
Speaker 2: I can always be grateful. I've listed just three or
Speaker 2: four of the things he's grateful for in the book
Speaker 2: of Job. They're about fifteen, but Job says, I can
Speaker 2: always be grateful that God is loving and cares for me.
Speaker 2: Job ten twelve. God is loving and cares for me,
Speaker 2: and I know that even when things are going wrong
Speaker 2: in my life, God is a loving God and he
Speaker 2: cares for me. I can be grateful for that. Then
Speaker 2: Job twenty three fourteen, I can be grateful that God
Speaker 2: has a detailed plan for my future. I can't see it,
Speaker 2: but because I know God's good God, and he has
Speaker 2: a plan form life, it's a good plan. He has
Speaker 2: a detailed plan for my life. In Joe thirty four thirteen,
Speaker 2: I can be grateful that God is in control of
Speaker 2: what I don't understand. That's been comforting with me so
Speaker 2: many times. God's in control of what I don't understand.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. We're so happy
Speaker 1: you've chosen to study along with us today. You know
Speaker 1: you can get hope and encouragement from Pastor Rick delivered
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Speaker 1: will be right back to close out our time today,
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Speaker 2: Jesus told his disciples that they should live their lives
Speaker 2: according to five specific purposes. He said, you've got to
Speaker 2: love God with all your heart. That's worship, and love
Speaker 2: your neighbors yourself. That's ministry. That's called the Great Commandment.
Speaker 2: And then Jesus said, go make disciples. That's evangelism. Baptize
Speaker 2: them into the Family of God. That's fellowship, a sign
Speaker 2: of fellowship. And then he said, teach them obey everything
Speaker 2: I've taught you. That's discipleship. And we call that the
Speaker 2: Great Commission. We believe it, Daily Hope that a great
Speaker 2: commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission will
Speaker 2: produce a great Christian, a great church, a great company
Speaker 2: a great community. You know. I started Daily Hope so
Speaker 2: I could spread the good news about Jesus not just
Speaker 2: across America, but all around the world. And we want
Speaker 2: people to know that God's word is filled with hope
Speaker 2: and truth and the power that we need to follow
Speaker 2: him every day is available to every single one. You
Speaker 2: know as well as I do, that the Word of
Speaker 2: God changes lives. It's a live it's active, and it
Speaker 2: breathes new life and new love into all of our lives.
Speaker 2: So wherever you listen to this, whether you listen on
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