1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:05,240 OK guys, I am very curious. I want to know has God ever 2 00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:08,160 dealt with you whilst you've been lying down in bed? 3 00:00:08,720 --> 00:00:12,200 Or have you ever had a time of prayer where it really feels 4 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:15,320 like your prayers have reached heaven, as if God has reached 5 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:18,760 down to you whilst you've been lying down in the stillness of 6 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:22,360 night in bed? I want to cover this topic 7 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:24,880 because I have actually seen a number of videos in the 8 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:28,120 Christian side of YouTube that have been saying it's a bad 9 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:31,280 thing to pray in bed. It's not a good thing. 10 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:33,120 You need to be careful if you're praying in bed. 11 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:37,320 And I'm going to just start by saying that is total nonsense. 12 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:39,880 I actually think it's the complete opposite and I'm going 13 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:42,960 to give you some really good examples in scripture of why it 14 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:46,800 can be a really good thing to think about the Lord God whilst 15 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:50,720 you're lying down in bed. Now, if you've never joined us 16 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:54,840 before on this channel, this is our coffee channel and it's 17 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:58,880 basically a channel dedicated to drinking coffee and studying the 18 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:00,200 Bible. So if that's something you're 19 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:02,200 interested in, please do subscribe. 20 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:05,160 If you can see some faces right now in this corner of the 21 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:08,240 screen, they're all of our friends who've bought one of our 22 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:11,040 off the curb mugs. I do need to keep emphasizing 23 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:13,160 this because people are saying, you know, you're trying to make 24 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:15,840 money and you know you're selling out Joe these mugs. 25 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:18,720 Literally, if you buy one of these mugs, it's literally just 26 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:21,760 a cover of the cost of how much it makes, how much it costs to 27 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:23,600 make the mug. So if you want to get one of 28 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:26,400 these as a little reminder to pray or just as something to 29 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:28,280 just, yeah, a little off the curve thing. 30 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,800 Obviously it's an encouragement for me and people are asking me 31 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:33,800 to make them, so I decided to do so. 32 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:36,160 But if you do get one, send me a picture. 33 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:39,680 I'll send you an e-mail and you send me a picture and we'll put 34 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:45,200 your face up here on the screen. As I was speaking, some coffee 35 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:47,280 spilled out there. I don't know if anyone caught 36 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:48,920 that on camera and saw it happening. 37 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:52,080 Some of you also say because I use a lot of hand gestures when 38 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:54,040 I speak, they're all you're always terrified I'm going to 39 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:57,000 knock over the coffee. Hopefully that will never 40 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:10,680 happen, but never say never. Now the first reason why I 41 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:14,880 believe it's very, very silly to say we cannot pray whilst lying 42 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:17,640 down is because it's mentioned in the Bible. 43 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:21,400 And in fact, what most people don't know is that ancient 44 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:23,800 Israel, it was actually a common practice. 45 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:27,520 You see, the bed wasn't just seen as a place for sleeping, it 46 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:31,840 was seen as a place for being meditative, a place for prayer, 47 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:35,280 a place for remembering God. If you'd like some proof of 48 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:39,240 this, let's look at Psalm chapter 4, verse 4. 49 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:44,960 Tremble and do not sin when you are on your beds, search your 50 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:49,960 hearts and be silent. So here the Scripture is really 51 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:53,800 emphasizing this, that when a man or woman was to to lie on 52 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:58,520 their bed, it was a time for quietness, for a time to just 53 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:02,040 search their heart. Search is is as the psalmist. 54 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:05,400 Is there any evil way inside me? Search me, oh Lord, see if 55 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:08,800 there's anything, any iniquity in my heart to dwell on these 56 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:11,760 things. Some of you, if you watch the 57 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:14,680 channel, I don't know how when you found my ministry, but I've 58 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:17,360 been going for quite a while, for 10 years actually, in 59 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:22,680 November in the Lord's grace and when I started making videos on 60 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:24,840 sort of sermon jams. One of the preachers I used to 61 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:29,200 love and I still love very much this day is a man called Leonard 62 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:31,760 Ravenhill. He's long with the Lord now, but 63 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:34,200 he was an evangelist from Yorkshire. 64 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:37,080 He started out as a street preacher and then he went over 65 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:39,600 to America and and he was friends with Keith Green. 66 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:43,160 He did a tremendous work. Very, very fiery preacher. 67 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:46,480 Would you know how Leonard Ravenhill used to pray And 68 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:48,280 remember Leonard Ravenhill used to say this? 69 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:53,520 He said, I don't care if your pastor has 200 theology degrees. 70 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:54,600 He didn't quite put it like this. 71 00:03:54,600 --> 00:03:57,880 I am sort of I'm, you know, embellishing of it. 72 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:00,000 But he said, I don't care if your pastor has lots and lots of 73 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:03,920 theology degrees that I don't care if he's got a brain the 74 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:06,040 size of, of Mars. You know, I don't care if he's 75 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:08,760 got all of this. If he doesn't pray for two hours 76 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:13,640 a day, he's not worth 2 pennies. Now that's a strong statement. 77 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:16,800 And I'm just going to flat out tell you right now, I don't pray 78 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:19,000 for two hours a day. I wish I did. 79 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:22,079 But here's a man who who was a very serious man of prayer. 80 00:04:22,079 --> 00:04:24,000 How did Leonard Ravenhill used to pray? 81 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:26,680 He said, I remember hearing him in a sermon. 82 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:30,960 He said he'd lie down with his, you know, his belly on the on 83 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:34,520 the on the duvet and he'd put his head on the pillow and he'd 84 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:38,440 just face down pray and he'd do that for for hours. 85 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:42,120 So interesting isn't it? Now I'm going to be honest with 86 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:43,520 you. If I did that, I'd be asleep 87 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,000 within 5 minutes. I don't know if anyone else 88 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:49,840 watching would be the same, but it is interesting, isn't it? 89 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:54,560 I I personally the way I pray if I want to do a a long prayer is 90 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:58,200 I do prayer walks where I'm walking and it just helps me to 91 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:01,800 focus my mind. If I walk around my street, I'll 92 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:05,200 know that different sort of, you know, different things like that 93 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:08,320 person's house or, or that little bit of grass there. 94 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:11,000 I'll, I'll think of things to remember to pray for. 95 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:14,280 So things in the Middle East, for instance, or I may pray for 96 00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:18,160 someone I know, an elder at a church who I know hasn't been 97 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:20,840 very well for a long time. I'll pray for that, for these 98 00:05:20,840 --> 00:05:24,040 different things, but I think the main message here to 99 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:27,240 remember is this. It's not about the position so 100 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:28,840 much. Yes, great. 101 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:31,480 You can lie down to pray if you kneel on the floor. 102 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:32,960 I think that's a wonderful thing to do. 103 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:36,120 It just, you know, really sort of centres us and reminds us 104 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:39,640 just we're just dust. We're just, you know, we're 105 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:43,120 nothing before this, holy God, and I think that's a good thing. 106 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,840 But walking, sitting, it's not about the position, but it's 107 00:05:46,840 --> 00:05:50,000 about the mindset and the heart. That's important and we need to 108 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:53,200 really remember that. All right, the second reason why 109 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:56,400 I think you and I should be making a practice of praying 110 00:05:56,400 --> 00:06:00,520 whilst we're in bed, remembering the Lord God whilst we lie down 111 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:04,240 is this. You see, when we're in bed there 112 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:08,400 are no distractions, are there? It's just total quietness. 113 00:06:08,840 --> 00:06:10,680 We can lie there, we can think there. 114 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:13,760 We, we hopefully shouldn't have a screen in front of us. 115 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:15,320 We should. We're just there. 116 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:19,560 Now it's just just me and you. I know the Lord is everywhere, 117 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:23,200 but He's here right now with me and it can be a really good 118 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:27,800 time, very profitable. Just listen to Psalm 63, verse 119 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:44,640 six with me, please. Here David says on my bed. 120 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:48,600 I remember you. I think of you through the 121 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:52,520 watches of the night. I love that phrase through the 122 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:56,360 watches of the night. Now some of you might remember 123 00:06:56,360 --> 00:07:00,400 about a year ago I did a video about waking up at 3:00 AM and I 124 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:04,200 shared a good friend of mine. We call him Dave Fleetwood or 125 00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:08,200 Dave 316 because his other friend is called Dave as well. 126 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:12,920 So it can get a bit confusing, but Dave woke up if you've not 127 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:16,080 heard the story before, he, he wasn't a believer. 128 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:20,120 He was like, you know, a tough man, a man of the world, went to 129 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:23,200 Amsterdam, did all those kind of things, did everything, you 130 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:26,280 know, just lived a life of, of sin, basically. 131 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:30,320 He'd openly say that to you. And yet there came a time where 132 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:34,680 he was inside his little man cave with his motorcycles and he 133 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:37,320 just fell on the floor with the fear of God. 134 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:40,520 Terrible fear overcame him anyway. 135 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:44,400 He knew something had happened, but he didn't know what God was 136 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:47,200 trying to say or or what the message was. 137 00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:50,920 Not long after he was he was sleeping. 138 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:53,480 And then he woke up, couldn't get back to sleep. 139 00:07:54,160 --> 00:08:00,640 Checked his phone and it was it was 16 minutes past three in the 140 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:04,280 morning. Put it away, went back to sleep. 141 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:08,840 Next day, he wakes up the same time, checks his phone, 16 142 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:12,320 minutes past three, tries to get back to sleep, Can't. 143 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:16,880 Next day, 16 minutes past three. Fourth night, Eventually it's as 144 00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:19,920 if he's saying God saying to him, come on, come on, my 145 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:22,320 friend, are you not getting the message here? 146 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:25,040 And it finally clicked. He went downstairs, he put into 147 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:29,760 Google Bible 316. And there he read, God so loved 148 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:33,400 the world that he sent his only begotten Son, that whosoever 149 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:36,760 believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting 150 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:39,440 life. Such such good news. 151 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:41,679 It's interesting. I actually just thought I'll 152 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:43,840 have a little look at the comments section of that video. 153 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:47,560 And there was a man who'd written a very similar story to 154 00:08:47,560 --> 00:08:49,880 Dave's. And he said he was he was tied 155 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:52,320 in in the attic of his grandmother's house. 156 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:57,040 He was going through her things and he came across the Bible and 157 00:08:57,040 --> 00:08:59,600 you know, as the unbeliever would often do, I don't need 158 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:02,440 that, threw it aside. He then was going through some 159 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:06,600 more things and he found another, another Bible, a really 160 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:09,080 old one, threw it aside. I don't need that. 161 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:10,520 It's the Bible. Who reads that? 162 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:14,760 And then a third time later on, he comes to to a Bible, a Gideon 163 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:17,000 Bible. It's over here in the UK, we 164 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:19,720 have the called the good news for everyone now but the 165 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:21,440 Gideons. And they put a Bible in every 166 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:23,840 single hotel room. And as he's found this Bible, 167 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:26,360 holding it there, he just looks down at his phone. 168 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:30,640 And what time is it? It's 16 minutes past three. 169 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:33,920 That was the only verse he knew John 316. 170 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:37,560 He read it and from what the man say, and this is what led him to 171 00:09:37,560 --> 00:09:40,840 Christ tremendous. So the Lord God, he does speak 172 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:42,960 to us in the early hours of the morning. 173 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:47,560 Myself I found sometimes I'll wake up and I'll have the best 174 00:09:47,560 --> 00:09:50,080 time in in the word. I'll wake up, I can't get back 175 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:52,280 to sleep and I'll read and it was a very precious time. 176 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:55,560 Sometimes I'm lying there and God will just give me a message. 177 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:58,320 Often I have to labour really hard to get a message, but 178 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:01,240 sometimes it's all there. It's like I've got to get up, 179 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:02,960 I've got to get up. I'm sorry Emma, I'm just going 180 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:04,160 downstairs. I need to, I'm going to my 181 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:07,360 office, scribble it all down, it's all there and the Lord's 182 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:11,200 given it to me. So special things do happen in 183 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:15,520 the watches of the night. But I think the real point here 184 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:18,800 that I'm trying to get to is, OK, it might be in the night 185 00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:22,160 where I remember the Lord God, but we want a place where we can 186 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:26,280 have no distractions. There was a very, very well 187 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:28,880 known American preacher. I won't name him because I don't 188 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:30,760 want to take a distraction from this video. 189 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:35,360 But very sadly, this man, you know, he, he made a mess 190 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:37,560 basically. Not to say that the Lord cannot 191 00:10:37,560 --> 00:10:41,320 forgive him for what he's done. We believe in a God of second 192 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:45,440 chances, but he had a very, very famous kind of message and he 193 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:47,920 called it the chair. And basically the whole point 194 00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:52,400 was you need a chair that you come to every single day to read 195 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:55,360 your Bible, to do your quiet time, to do your devotion. 196 00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:58,000 And the point was this, don't let there be rubbish on the 197 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:00,280 chair. Don't let the kids be there. 198 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:02,560 Don't let the wife be there or the husband be there. 199 00:11:02,680 --> 00:11:04,240 Don't let there be any. You need a chair. 200 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:05,880 You need a place where you can go quietly. 201 00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:08,760 For some of you, it might be in your truck, in your car. 202 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:10,600 For some of you, you might have an armchair. 203 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:12,600 For some of you, you might have a hammock. 204 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:14,400 You might have a bed. You might have somewhere we can 205 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:16,840 go quietly for myself. You're not going to believe 206 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:20,680 this, but the recent one for me in the last year is I literally 207 00:11:20,680 --> 00:11:24,480 sit on a sledge, on my, on my child's, on my son's sledge. 208 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:27,960 It's just in the garden. And I've just found that's where 209 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:31,520 I sit every morning and I'll sit there even if it's wet. 210 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:33,720 I'll just sit on this sledge and read my Bible. 211 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:37,800 And I've had some wonderful, wonderful quiet time singing 212 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:41,280 Jingle Bells all the way. But you get the picture there, 213 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:42,880 don't you? Just make sure there's a place 214 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:45,280 where you can go for quietness with the Lord. 215 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:51,600 Now, I almost hesitate to say this because I don't want to 216 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:54,680 take away from what I've said, but there is a word of caution 217 00:11:54,680 --> 00:11:58,080 for all of this about lying in bed. 218 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:00,680 I want to come to it just a little bit later. 219 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:05,480 But first, let's just think of some men of God or some biblical 220 00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:09,160 instances of this in the Bible. Again, could you turn in your 221 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:10,520 Bibles? If you've got a Bible there? 222 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:12,800 I hope you're OK with all these Bible verses. 223 00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:15,360 I know you always tell me more Bible verses the better. 224 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:19,640 So you've got plenty in this video, Genesis 28. 225 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:22,040 If you've got a Bible there the very front of your Bibles, 226 00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:26,960 Genesis 28 and we're going to read verses 16 to 17. 227 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:40,240 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought surely the Lord is in 228 00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:42,800 this place and I was not aware of it. 229 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:46,120 He was afraid and said, how awesome is this place? 230 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:49,040 This is none other than the House of God. 231 00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:54,520 This is the gate of heaven. Now this is a very well known 232 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:57,960 story. Here we've got Jacob and he's 233 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:00,440 he's literally fleeing. He's he's running from his 234 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:03,280 brother Esau, who is he's upset greatly. 235 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:07,560 And as he finds somewhere, you know, in the nights, he sees a 236 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:09,960 stone and thinks, oh, that'll be a comfy pillow. 237 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:12,080 He takes the stone, lays his head down. 238 00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:14,520 I don't know how he managed to fall asleep, but he did. 239 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:18,560 He fell into a deep sleep. And there the Lord God met him, 240 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:26,760 the Lord in a dream and a vision shows him something incredible. 241 00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:30,400 He sees a ladder and and the very bottom, the very base of 242 00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:34,400 the ladder is on earth. And this ladder stretches all 243 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:38,680 the way up to heaven. And on this ladder, ascending 244 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:42,360 and descending up and down are angels. 245 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:45,480 Now this is just the most beautiful picture of the gospel 246 00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:49,400 because who is Jesus Christ? He is the stairway, He is the 247 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:53,680 the ladder between, He's the bridge between man and God. 248 00:13:53,680 --> 00:13:55,680 He is the bridge between earth and heaven. 249 00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:59,800 He is the mediator who we cannot enter into God's presence in 250 00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:01,400 ourselves. We've got all this sin that 251 00:14:01,640 --> 00:14:05,840 covers us and yet Jesus Christ, the Spirit of Christ stepped 252 00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:09,200 into a spirit, took on a body and then became the Saviour of 253 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:13,040 all flesh dying on that cross and now makes it possible for to 254 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:17,360 connect with God, to be reconciled with God through 255 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:21,360 Jesus death on that cross. Beautiful picture there. 256 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:25,400 So here we've got a lovely picture here of of Jacob meeting 257 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:28,920 with God as he as he lies down. And he actually called that 258 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:30,920 place Bethel. So if you ever see a church 259 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:36,000 called Bethel, it's named after this particularly precious story 260 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:41,040 in the Bible, Samuel. Now, many of you know my son's 261 00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:44,120 name is Samuel. I just love the name Samuel. 262 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:46,040 Now that's a, that's an interesting story. 263 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:48,840 You know it well, don't you? Here you've got this, this young 264 00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:52,200 man, this apprentice. Shall we stay young prophet 265 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:54,480 apprentice. And he's in and he's there and 266 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:58,760 he's, he's lying down asleep. And he's got his boss, the older 267 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:01,600 prophet Eli. And here he is, he's sleeping, 268 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:04,800 he's trying to sleep. And he hears a voice. 269 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:10,120 Samuel gets up. Oh, my boss, Eli's calling me. 270 00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:13,200 He goes up. Eli, did you call me? 271 00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:15,760 No, no, no, Samuel, I didn't call you. 272 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:19,440 Go back to bed. Samuel lays down, tries to get 273 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:24,200 back to bed. Samuel, Eli's calling me. 274 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:25,560 He must have called me this time. 275 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:28,000 Goes into Eli, did you call me? No. 276 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:30,960 No, Samuel, I didn't call you. Go back to bed. 277 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:36,120 Samuel goes back to bed. Lies down a third time. 278 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:42,720 Samuel, he goes into Eli Now Eli suddenly gets knowledge of 279 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:46,160 what's happening. He he gets he perceives this is 280 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:51,080 the Lord speaking to him. And he says, Samuel, this is God 281 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:53,320 speaking to you. I want you now to go back, lie 282 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:57,680 down when you hear the voice again say speak Lord for your 283 00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:02,080 servant heareth. So sure enough, Samuel did as 284 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:06,080 Eli said there he heard a prophecy from the Lord, a very 285 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:11,360 difficult word that would be particularly aimed at Eli and at 286 00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:13,920 his sons, because Eli hadn't restrained his sons. 287 00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:17,200 He hadn't been the father that that them sons needed. 288 00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:18,920 And those sons had wreaked havoc. 289 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:22,240 And Samuel in the morning told Eli all of it. 290 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:24,880 But something I find quite, you know, just on a little 291 00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:27,200 diversion, quite remarkable about this. 292 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:30,520 Eli didn't get upset. He didn't get angry with Samuel. 293 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:33,600 He didn't get jealous of this younger man who was taking his 294 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:34,960 position. He was going to be the new 295 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:37,600 prophet. He just received it humbly and 296 00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:41,760 knew that he had done wrong. And guys, that's a lesson for 297 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:45,400 you and I. You know, so often we pray for 298 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:47,200 younger preachers to come up, don't we? 299 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:50,800 The older men, the the pastors, we pray for younger preachers to 300 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:53,040 come up. But when they do come up, do we 301 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:54,960 support them? Do we encourage them? 302 00:16:55,560 --> 00:16:58,960 Or do we, you know, we always picking holes all the bad things 303 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:01,800 they've done or we always discouraging them, do we support 304 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:04,240 them financially? I mean, that's something I was 305 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:07,400 challenged by years ago when a young guy said to me, you know, 306 00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:10,160 people are always saying we need younger preachers, but when a 307 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:14,400 younger guy comes forward, no one supports them financially, 308 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:18,000 which is something perhaps as a young person at your church 309 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:22,640 who's just started in ministry, maybe the Lord might be laying 310 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:24,960 it on your heart, just not nothing massive, but just to 311 00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:27,280 give them a little, a little gift to encourage, encourage 312 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:29,080 them. We need to just be practical, 313 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:31,080 don't we? And we need to just love the 314 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:33,640 younger people who are coming up into ministry. 315 00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:37,600 And it's a challenge for me because I want to, I want to 316 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:41,040 make sure that I'm encouraging younger people in ministry too. 317 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:43,760 And we all want to be disciplined and looking after 318 00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:46,600 younger people and, you know, sharing the knowledge God has 319 00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:49,160 given us to, to other people as well. 320 00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:56,520 Hey now, a less flattering example of someone falling 321 00:17:56,520 --> 00:17:59,840 asleep is a story of Jonah. You know that story well as 322 00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:01,440 well. Here we've got Jonah. 323 00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:03,600 He's run away. He's told you need to preach the 324 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:06,280 people of Nineveh, but he was really, really scared. 325 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:09,320 These people of Nineveh, they, they were known to do some 326 00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:12,440 pretty, you know, pretty insane things with those who they, they 327 00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:15,280 got hold of. And I don't maybe won't share it 328 00:18:15,280 --> 00:18:18,160 in this video, but just think of an onion in other words. 329 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:21,560 And, you know, it was really, really scary for him, for him. 330 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:26,200 So he ran away and he gets into a boat and yet God speaks to him 331 00:18:26,360 --> 00:18:28,640 fast asleep in the very bottom of the boat. 332 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:32,360 There he is being rocked to sleep and yet God wakes him up 333 00:18:32,360 --> 00:18:35,400 with a storm. And then this is a bit I really 334 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:37,200 love. One of my favorite Bible 335 00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:41,840 characters is the is the sea captain in the story of Jonah. 336 00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:46,480 And he knocks on the door and he says, arise, O sleeper, wake up. 337 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:49,680 Call upon your God that he might have mercy on us. 338 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:52,760 So here we've got this unbelieving man who's telling 339 00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:54,800 the prophet of God what he should be doing. 340 00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:57,400 It's a strong message. How many times has the 341 00:18:57,400 --> 00:18:59,920 unbeliever looked at us as a Christian and said, you 342 00:18:59,920 --> 00:19:02,280 shouldn't be doing that. You shouldn't be watching that 343 00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:04,640 you, you've had way too many drinks there. 344 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:07,520 You're meant to be a Christian. What's what's going on here? 345 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:10,720 Just a lesson to remember that the world is watching us. 346 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:16,360 Here we've got Elijah and again he's he's running away. 347 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:18,280 He's running away from someone after him. 348 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:24,320 Jezebel, that evil queen wants him and he feels hopeless if 349 00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:27,880 he's just lost all hope just feels like what's the point? 350 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:32,280 So he lies down under this, this tree, I think it was a terebinth 351 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:36,360 tree and falls asleep. And then an Angel of the Lord 352 00:19:36,360 --> 00:19:40,160 touches him and gives him something to eat, gives him 353 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:44,560 something to drink and says, don't despair, don't lose hope. 354 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:48,320 Elijah encourages him and says, just rest. 355 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:51,760 You just need to rest right now. And then go on with your, your 356 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:53,960 journey. And there's a lesson for us. 357 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:58,280 There isn't that, you know, some of us, we're going at 100 mph. 358 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:02,240 And when that happens, it's very easy for you and I to fall into 359 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:06,080 that place of despair as pilgrims progress as Christian 360 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:09,480 found out that that place, that Slough of despondency, that it's 361 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:13,480 like a big, a big miry pond just full of this thick mud. 362 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:15,960 And he sinks down into it and he just feels hopeless. 363 00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:18,960 We can feel like that at times if we're going too fast, if 364 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:22,000 we're trying to do too much. And there doesn't come a time 365 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:26,080 where we just have to rest a while, find peace in the Lord. 366 00:20:26,520 --> 00:20:30,120 And then go back to our mission, then go back to Our Calling to 367 00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:33,920 serve the Lord. OK, just before I come to my 368 00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:38,600 little warning, shall I say for you and I to be aware of, I just 369 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:41,760 want to give some examples that are more in the negative sense. 370 00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:46,040 Well, some of them are very, very, yeah, bad examples of, of 371 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:49,640 sleeping where, you know, we have got to be careful about 372 00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:53,600 sleeping and, and how it can sometimes bad things can happen 373 00:20:54,360 --> 00:20:56,560 when we're being lazy or when we're sleeping. 374 00:20:56,880 --> 00:20:59,600 A classic example of this is the disciples. 375 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:02,560 You know the story well, as Jesus is in the Garden of 376 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:06,560 Gethsemane and he's praying, he's toiling with God and he 377 00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:09,080 asks the disciples to to watch and pray. 378 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:12,360 He comes and he finds them all asleep. 379 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:16,560 Couldn't you have stayed up for just one hour, Just one hour for 380 00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:19,600 me? And then he says, you know, the 381 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:22,720 Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. 382 00:21:23,240 --> 00:21:24,600 We've got to be careful, haven't we? 383 00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:27,720 You know, again, as I say, we, we need to rest, but we also 384 00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:31,920 need to be careful that we, we don't become slow, full or lazy. 385 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:35,640 And we're always lying down and we're always, you know, relaxing 386 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:37,720 because there is work to be done. 387 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:41,160 Work whilst we have day. The Bible says, you know, while 388 00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:42,920 the hour is at hand, we need to work. 389 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:45,320 We need, we can't preach the gospel in heaven, can we? 390 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:47,400 Let's get out there and, and do it now. 391 00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:50,080 Now, hopefully you're going to see a pattern, but I'm going to 392 00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:53,000 show you some more examples of why lying down. 393 00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:55,200 You know, we shouldn't super spiritualize it. 394 00:21:55,440 --> 00:21:59,000 Here we've got Saul. OK, Saul is is lying down. 395 00:21:59,360 --> 00:22:03,120 And David comes in, sneaks in and proves to Saul. 396 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:05,960 Saul, I could have had you. You were sleeping right now. 397 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:07,480 And then there's the other example. 398 00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:11,200 Do you remember Saul? When no longer was God speaking 399 00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:13,320 to him, no longer would he hear the voice of God. 400 00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:16,720 So what did he do? He went and saw out a witch, the 401 00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:19,840 witch of Endor. And as he visited this witch, 402 00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:23,160 he, he called we're back to Samuel again, the prophet Samuel 403 00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:25,680 to come out and he says he literally came out of the 404 00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:28,840 ground. What a scary, terrifying image. 405 00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:32,120 And here the prophet Samuel is. Why have you, why have you 406 00:22:32,120 --> 00:22:34,840 called me up Saul? And here it is. 407 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:37,880 There's bad news. He gives bad news to Saul and it 408 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:41,800 says about Saul, he literally just falls to the ground to the 409 00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:44,560 point where the witch had to try and comfort him. 410 00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:46,920 You know, he's lying down. He didn't want to move. 411 00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:50,920 He was he was just so in despair at this news. 412 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:55,000 We've got Scissora Scissor. Do you know that name? 413 00:22:55,080 --> 00:23:00,160 Scissor was a Canaanite commander and here he is. 414 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:02,920 He's he's doing wrong. He's going after the people of 415 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:06,400 God, but he thinks he's safe when he goes into a woman called 416 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:09,320 jails tent. He thinks because there's some 417 00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:13,080 kind of, I can't think of the word right now, but you know, a, 418 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:17,600 a family tire connection to, to this to this tribe, He thinks 419 00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:22,080 I'll be safe in here. So he goes into this tent, falls 420 00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:26,040 asleep and he wasn't safe at all. 421 00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:29,880 Jail covers his head. And then, yeah, without going 422 00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:32,920 into too much detail, let's just say she pitched a tent in the in 423 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:36,280 the wrong place. And then as we've talked about 424 00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:39,680 before on this channel, we've got the the slow, full man who, 425 00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:42,960 you know, it's like he's on his hinges, turning to and fro on 426 00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:45,400 his bed. He's always lying down in bed. 427 00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:47,240 He, he always wants to fold his arms. 428 00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:49,600 He always wants to fall asleep. We need to be careful. 429 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:52,520 So what am I trying to say here? What is my word of caution? 430 00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:55,040 We mustn't super spiritualize it. 431 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:58,760 I think it's a great thing to remember God in prayer whilst 432 00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:00,640 you're lying down, but don't just remember him while you're 433 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:02,200 lying down. Remember him while you're 434 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:04,760 walking, remember Him while you're working, remember Him all 435 00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:06,320 day. Whatever you do, whether you eat 436 00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:08,200 or drink, do it's the glory of God. 437 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:11,920 And there is something I would like to give a little warning 438 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:13,760 against and just a little bit of honesty. 439 00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:18,840 So if you've got a Bible, one last Bible verse, Micah 2 verse 440 00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:42,680 one. Anyone else take anyone else? 441 00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:45,720 Take a really long time to find the book of Micah then don't 442 00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:48,040 feel like you're alone. Even the preacher man struggles 443 00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:52,880 to find some books in the Bible. Micah 2 verse one woe to those 444 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:57,640 who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds at 445 00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:01,240 morning's light. They carry it out because it is 446 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:05,040 in their power to do it. Now here's the harsh truth. 447 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:08,520 Sometimes in beds we can do much sin. 448 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:11,840 You know the story well. You're the lion, the moral, the 449 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:16,920 devil makes work for idle hands. And if you're not able to pray, 450 00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:20,040 if your mind does get distracted, be careful. 451 00:25:20,360 --> 00:25:22,880 Now, this is particularly talking about men who actually 452 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:25,920 really, I think it's talking about men who want to do really 453 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:29,520 terrible things, evil things, you know, in bed. 454 00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:33,280 But I think we can also take it to a level of when our mind 455 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:35,480 wanders. And this is what something I 456 00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:38,960 want to be honest with you. I have never found it easy to 457 00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:42,960 get out of bed, but I've got a strategy and and I have an alarm 458 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:46,280 clock and it's one of those old fashioned ones that rings, you 459 00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:48,680 know, with the bell really, really loud. 460 00:25:49,360 --> 00:25:53,720 But I found if I put an alarm clock next to my bed or if I put 461 00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:57,200 it even on the other side of the room, and I'll quickly get back 462 00:25:57,200 --> 00:25:59,240 into bed after I've turned my alarm off. 463 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:02,600 So what I do is I literally put it outside of the room so that 464 00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:04,840 once I'm up and out, that's it. I'm awake. 465 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:08,760 Now I'm not going back to bed. But sometimes I do find if I 466 00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:13,480 miss my alarm clock or if I forget to set it, I will lie in 467 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:16,520 bed and I'll know that my mind is wandering. 468 00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:20,200 My mind is thinking in pure things, things that I should not 469 00:26:20,200 --> 00:26:22,200 be thinking as as a Christian man. 470 00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:24,760 And I know sometimes I'm like, right, that's enough. 471 00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:26,360 Now get up. Just get up, Joe. 472 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:30,480 Your mind is, is wandering into sin and that's really what I 473 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:33,000 want to share with you. We shouldn't super spiritualize 474 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:34,640 it. For some people it's a great 475 00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:37,640 thing to lie down and pray in bed, but we're all made 476 00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:40,600 differently. I do pray in bed sometimes and 477 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:43,120 perhaps you do or sometimes you can't pray in bed. 478 00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:46,040 But I'm just trying to say we need to be careful and we need 479 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:48,800 to be wise. Now, whilst we're on this theme 480 00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:52,280 of, you know, thinking, you know, wrong thoughts or impure 481 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:55,480 thoughts, let me just share this with you. 482 00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:59,720 I know some of you have got a copy of this back in 2021. 483 00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:03,320 It was released in 2022. I wrote a book called 100 Pure 484 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:06,760 Thoughts and some of you have got a copy of this book and I'm 485 00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:08,800 so grateful to those of you who got one. 486 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:13,400 But I do want to let you know because I know, you know, it's 487 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:17,040 not easy to, you know, the cost of these things, they can be a 488 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:20,160 bit expensive and, and we're all in different situations. 489 00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:23,320 So actually here's some really, really good news hot off the 490 00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:26,680 press this week. This book has now been released 491 00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:31,520 fully, totally for free on the Bible app you version. 492 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:35,160 So we put two parts of it on and in the Lord's grace, because 493 00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:38,880 they've taken off so well, we've decided to release the third 494 00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:42,080 part on there. So it's all totally for free. 495 00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:45,440 If you want to get that is all you need to do is go on the 496 00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:49,280 Bible app, the You Version Bible app and just search Purify your 497 00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:53,680 Mind series, Joe Kirby and you'll find Part 1, Part 2 and 498 00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:56,200 Part 3. And if you do do that, would you 499 00:27:56,200 --> 00:27:58,560 just do a favour for me? Would you leave a little review 500 00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:01,840 on Amazon and just tell us what you think of the book? 501 00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:05,240 Whether you've got some criticism that's great or if 502 00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:08,200 you've got something nice to say, please do leave that. 503 00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:10,640 It just helps the book to go out a bit more. 504 00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:13,640 And I have got another book that I am planning on releasing at 505 00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:15,840 some point. Just just pray for me for that. 506 00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:19,440 It's all written, but I've just made the decision on this one. 507 00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:22,480 I think I'm going to publish it myself and I need to somehow 508 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:25,240 coordinate all of that. And as you know, you know, I 509 00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:29,080 struggle to answer emails, I struggle to get videos out. 510 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:32,360 I'm just constantly on that, on that hamster treadmill, 511 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:35,520 treadmill working all the time. But God is good. 512 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:38,640 He's a gracious saviour and we look to him. 513 00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:41,200 And it's just been a real privilege to have coffee with 514 00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:43,200 you again. So God bless you all. 515 00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:46,400 If you want, if you've still got plenty of coffee left, why don't 516 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:50,520 you watch this video here where I had a coffee with you and I 517 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:54,040 was talking about things that we need to, you know, ways of 518 00:28:54,040 --> 00:28:56,800 sharing the gospel, something that I also believe is very, 519 00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:59,400 very important. God bless you all and thank you 520 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:00,120 for watching.