Morning and Evening (pt.2)

Hi, Matt Bennett here with the Bennett broadcast. Thank you so much for joining. The question is, what does it take to draw near to the Lord to please him to draw his presence and power to be used by him as his instrument to bring blessing revival to your community, to yourself, to your family, to the nation, and everyone. There are things that we do as people that attract the presence of God that please him that meet conditions that he's put forward in the Bible, in which when we meet he pours forth his spirit onto us and changes us. This isn't legalism and that's a misunderstanding that many have and that's another Bennett broadcast dealing with that more fully. That's when you think you can merit or earn something from God and that's not the case, but there are conditions that we need to meet for the Lord then to be pleased with us and for him to respond and pouring out his spirit on us and it's grace it all comes by grace. And so that's what this message about is the second one and morning and evening. There are a number of regular spiritual practices for us and drawing close to the Lord that's pleasing to him that gives him praise that then we get blessed by in return. And there's a whole series of these and this is the second part of morning and evening, episode 11, thanks for tuning in by understanding this, what it can do for you is to set a pattern in your life where you build your life around God, instead of the other way around, instead of God fitting him in. And then you're close to him. You walk with him. You experience him. He hears you. You hear him and you receive the blessings that otherwise you would not have an understanding this. So it's our desire to create and see an increasing culture of Christians that seek the Lord wholeheartedly and please him and attract his presence for power success and deepening expanding his kingdom. We're called to be his warriors to take the kingdom of God into every sphere. And to our families and to business every place when we need the spiritual strengthening to do that. So seeking him requires effort on our part and it's the highest aim of humanity and please him in this way. There are a number of aspects of what it means to advance God's kingdom. We're focusing on spiritual practices and the pattern of what it means to seek the Lord how often and how much time for spiritual strength in terms of devotions. We haven't talked about much in the Western church today. There's not a lot of places I can take only a few times when a Christian teacher either through a Christian agency or a pastor laid out some sort of plan. But even then it wasn't a commitment with what the scriptures teach at least it was something but the vast majority of time you get nothing and this has to change because Christians need to know from the scriptures what it takes to please the Lord so that we can walk with him and draw his presence. So as we think about spiritual vitality, it's helpful to think that it's always about seeking out to the Lord himself. It's also remembering that there's seven and least the way we lay them out seven principles of seeking him with a seeking God lifestyle, humbling ourself with the help of fasting, repending our sins, obeying him moment by moment, there's seven of them we lay out. But then there's the spiritual practices and that's the timing, the pattern of when we do that. So that's important too and that's what this is focused on. And as a reminder, this was looked at in the last episode but this is so important it's worth looking at again here is that this pattern of drawing close to the Lord that is the times we have for religious reflection or you might call it call it a devotion or a quiet time but a time to meet with God either on your own or the other people. Now there is a pattern to this and it's rooted in the way that the solar system of the universe was made and you can see this in Genesis 114 and this is really remarkable. It says in God said let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times and days and years and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth and it was so. It was recognized by Jewish scholars years and years ago that the very pattern of the rising of the sun and it's going down as well as seasons and moon that these were set there to let us know the pattern and the timing of us drawing close to the Lord and this is critical because the same exists for us today. This is reflected in first Chronicles 23 and you see the mirroring of language when the Levites were to go before the temple and do their offerings and people would gather all around and draw close to the Lord at that time in the temple and it says chapter 23 3031 and they were to stand every morning, thank you and praise the Lord and likewise at evening and whenever burnt offerings were offered to the Lord on Sabbaths, new moons and feast days were hurting the number of required of them regularly before the Lord. So the pattern that's laid out in the scriptures is to have morning and evening times are drawn close to the Lord more intense times on on weekly on a Sabbath monthly as well as a couple of times a few different times annually after that so regular focused times of seeking the Lord is essential for spiritual strengthening and feelings of the Holy Spirit. We are commanded in the Bible to be strong in the Lord and to be filled with this Holy Spirit and this is part of the means in which that is achieved of course the time used and drawn close to the Lord has to be seeking him as is pleasing to him but it takes time and it takes regularity. Matthew 6.1 says this and I mention this because of course our motivations are important in all of this beware of practicing a righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them that's a wrong motivation when we draw close to the Lord in devotions and in this passage in Matthew 6 it's referencing prayer fasting and giving. So this is reference and we need to have the right motivations but we also of course have to be doing it and when it comes to prayer and reading the Bible there needs to be a regularity to it so just because we have the right motivations and not want to be seen by other people doesn't mean it excuses us from the regularity that the Lord expects of us they both have to be there. So it is okay that others know when we're praying fasting etc after all it's how we know how this is happening in the Bible but what's important is that there are good motives that we don't do it to be seen by others. So here what we're focusing on is morning and evening devotions and we're looking at the second half of this kind of overall message or teaching. So in the previous episode I think episode 10 we looked at the pattern of having devotions in the Old Testament morning and evening as well as the New Testament in early church history. So now what we're doing is continuing the same theme but showing how this was also the true and recent church history that is the last 500 years not just the first few hundred years and of course it continued in the meantime but. I don't think it's needed to go through all 2000 years of church history to make the point then we also want to look at beyond just examples in the Bible what arguably our scriptural commands to come before the Lord every morning and evening then of course we look at the length of it does matter as well and then we'll look at some takeaways from all of this all about having morning and evening devotions so looking at more recent church history we have the Puritan. George Herbert who said prayer should be the key of the day and the lock of the night and this was the pattern and he was in the church of England in the early 1600s so this goes back hundreds of years this is what Christians did this is normal behavior. This is the point i'm trying to make with all of this now many may have heard this is a more more common names here John Wesley founder of Methodism his brother Charles who wrote all those hymns and then you also have Jonathan Edwards George Whitfield so these four considered the founders of what we call today evangelicalism it's a lot of the doctrines of the scriptures with also emphasis on being born again and also really feeling God in your heart as well as the standard views of the scriptures. doctrines and they were very consistent and drawing close to the Lord they prayed every day at 9 a.m. noon 3 p.m. and often more often than that they fasted Wednesdays and Fridays sometimes beyond that as well so this was normal behavior for them to have at least morning and evening devotions these great men of the faith during the 1700s and the founding of evangelicalism. They give you another example of how common this was and Christian dumb in the last number of hundreds of years you look at the seal or the charter of Columbia University now the ministry on with Christian Union we have college chapters and one of our chapters is that Columbia University i'm here in New York City it's up closer to 116th Street i'm down more midtown area but it we have a chapter there we have a ministry center there ministers students mostly undergraduates. graduate some graduates as well but in the real chart of the founding of this college it's called Columbia now it used to be called Kings College it said this in the charter it says we do further will ordain and direct that there shall be forever hereafter public morning and evening services constantly performed in the said college morning and evening forever by the president fellows professors of tutors of the said college or one of them according to a little bit. Litergy of the Church of England well of course that doesn't happen anymore even though it's in the charter here but this is how widespread and understood that if you are Christian this is how you lived your life that you would have services or devotions morning and evening every day. Now i'm going to point to another example this person William Weber force and his friends called the Clapham group or the Clapham sack they're known a lot and a lot of Christian circles and worth focusing in on him and the reason why it's especially important to focus on him he was a remarkable man if you haven't studied this life he led the charge in parliament and the early 1800s late 1700s to outlaw the slave trade and then to emancipate the slaves and he was victorious after 40 years a really. extraordinary person he had a number of other famous powerful friends that helped him in different ways they were called the Clapham group and there are a lot of books and movies written by him conferences held groups held in his name and this is great because he's worthy to be emulated because he was a Christian out in the public sphere. think of someone like a Daniel or a Nehemiah or an Esther someone who's not a ministry person like myself or a minister but someone who is out there wanting to make a difference for Christ and so he's terrible that is a great man he wrote books on Christianity he did a lot of wonderful things this man of God is a member of parliament. now there's something worth focusing on here something that's often left out of a lot of the storytelling about him because I think it's just overlooked but it is the most important part about him so says here Clapham was a neighborhood near the houses of parliament in London in the early 1800s where a group of powerful influential and devout Christians lived. the group became known as the Clapham sect and led the charge to abolish the slave trade the prominent historians are believed gives a short description of these Christian friends describing their discipline three times a day pattern of seeking God in prayer. so that's here he goes here's a quote but little did the critics guess the almost monastic self discipline by which these well to do Christians ordered each day of their lives they moved in society they were given to hospitality because they believed in a duty quote my business is the world wrote well before and I must mix in the assemblies of men or quit the part which providence seems to have assigned to me but every temptation to self indulgence was originally kept in check. here he continues on this is this historian Balin G.R. Balin saying this he says like all evangelicals in those days and that was Methodist Quakers and Puritans those who were devout for the Lord those who were active considered born again in the faith. says they were very early risers for they realized intensely the value of time every hour was mapped out beforehand some of will be forces timetables were discovered after his death so many hours prayer so many for study so many for business so many for rest. and a column at the end to which to enter all the time that had been squandered they made a point of setting apart three hours a day for prayer from five to six in the morning from 12 to one at noon and from five to six in the evening now that is amazing isn't it and that part is often if not always left out in discussions and talking about will be forces life. this is put here not only to say that this is the pattern of Christians in general in the early 1800s in the UK as well as in America but also to put forward that the reason he had the spiritual strength to achieve what he did was because he had God with him because he was drawing close to God for strength for power for direction. and this is the most important part if we're to be used by God in a secular field we need the power of the Lord in these areas and that comes as we draw close to him with a regularity that he has prescribed so incredibly important to remember that our heroes in the faith live this way and if we want to have the kind of impact that they did we need to live similarly. Now moving forward a bunch of years we have Charles Spurgeon the great preacher and late 19th century in England he held morning and evening devotions he wrote a book called morning and evening and he said family worship meaning gathered in the evening is beyond measure important both for the present and succeeding generations it's not common these days for Christians in the United States in the West to have evening devotions family devotions but it's needed as well as the most important part of the day is the morning to be strong in the Lord. So that was an example of morning and evening devotions from recent church history you can see there's so much evidence for this and the importance of it Neil Testament New Testament early church history recent church history now I'm going to go one step further here and to look at the scriptures because I'm going to make the case that I think it's important to take in to look at that the Bible not only gives it as an example but actually commands. That we come before the Lord morning and evening and that's another step that's something beyond just saying well they did it that's great but it's not commanded of us but I would argue looking at these passage it is commanded take a look at these passages and look at yourself and see yourself. So here's the famous passage in Luke 181-8 where Jesus is teaching them how to pray they want to learn how to pray so he teaches them and this is what he says he says and he told them the parable to the fact that they ought always to pray and not lose heart so he's telling them what they ought to do this is a teaching of Jesus if it's a teaching of Jesus and of course as Christians we need to do it. So he says to them and a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying give me justice against my adversary for a while refused but afterward he said to himself though I neither fear God nor respect man yet because this widow keeps bothering me I will give her justice so that she will not beat me down by all her continual coming. And the Lord said here what the unrighteous judge says and will not God give justice to his elect who cried to him day and night will he delay long over them I tell you he will give justice to them speedily nevertheless when a son of man comes will he find faith on the earth. So there's an extraordinary story Jesus is committing to the people keep praying day and night because if you do the Lord will hear and he says this is how you ought always to pray because people back then too I'm sure is today sometimes get weary or they get distracted or they get busy or whatever else and they may not take the time morning and evening to draw close to the Lord. This was the pattern of the devout Jews in the first century at the time of this writing and also was the pattern of the Christians they did the same thing so there's no question that all the apostles Jesus himself this is how they ordered their lives they had times of prayer every morning and evening sometimes also more than that is explained in the previous. And so it says here those who cried to him day and night now before I knew the historical background I took the term crying to him day and night is something more general is like okay God just wants us to remember to pray something like that but now that I know the historical background. When it says day and night and how that was understood in context of prayer then my understanding has shifted and it was probably referring to him saying at least morning and evening at least twice a day drawing close to the Lord of that kind of regularity. Remember this whole parable is about persistence about keep coming back and so there has to be some sort of pattern that's late here some sort of well how often do I keep coming back that's a question that arises of Jesus is saying hey keep coming back in prayer keep asking keep knocking and he's saying hey at least morning and evening is what he's saying maybe more than that but at least that. And so here because he says it's how you ought to pray then I think the case can be made and I believe it that God wants Christians expects Christians to pray every morning and every evening and have a devotion read the Bible listen to praise music et cetera this is his requirement and expectation of Christians. Also look at another passage in the New Testament that teaches the same thing and this is amazing when I first came across this in this context in this way about 15 years ago it was very stirring for me and shocking in some sense and sobering now let's look at this this is the context with the apostle Paul is laying out the case for which widow should be getting financial help. Remember having read this he lays out they needed to be faithful to their husbands et cetera they need to meet all these criterion of so they'll get financial help from the church it says honor widows who are truly widows but if a widow has children or grandchildren let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents for this is pleasing in the side of God. She who is truly a widow left all alone has set our hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day but she who is self indulgent is dead while she still lives command these things as well so that they may be without reproach but if anyone is not provide for as well it is and especially for members of his household he is denied his faith and it's worth an unbeliever so. The context of this is saying alright let's take care of the widows children grandchildren first but it also says this very powerful in verse five it says. She's to continue and supplications prayers again there's that phrase night and day but she who is self indulgent is dead even while she lives meaning that if she's not going to the prayers and they did these prayers communally was very rare for people to do it on their own. If she didn't show up to the prayers morning and evening then she is self indulgent and dead while she lives and so the question arises while if she's considered self indulgent and dead while she lives isn't that fair to say that that's expected of all Christians I mean this is something that's expected laying out what it what a godly person does and so if it was true of her isn't not fair to say that if we don't draw close to the Lord every morning and every evening then we're self indulgent and quote dead. Even while we live and you do notice if you take a amount of time morning and evening draw close to the Lord you feel his presence more than you otherwise would you feel his closeness it is quite different when you draw close to him I think this passage as well as a luke one puts it in a frame such that you can say that it's not just a pattern you see in the Bible but it's a command of God that Christians draw close to him morning and evening. Make your own decision with us it's what I believe the scriptures teach so looking at the scriptural expectations to seek God morning and evening we have the scriptural commands and inspiration and that's all the inspiring the examples that are said in addition to the commands we also have the Christian practice of first century Christians and throughout history this is what everybody did is a universal practice which you can see in the previous episode. The testimony spiritual power so many godly people have this have had this kind of pattern and testify to the presence of God in their lives all of these are very consequential and making the case that hey I think this is what the Lord would have every Christian do. So in terms of takeaways with this I think it's worth considering to have devotions minimum twice daily sometimes more and then also realize that if these are neglected there's going to be negative spiritual impact we won't be everything that the Lord would have as be if we don't have that kind of regularity and pattern with the Lord if it's something that he's calling for and we don't do it of course our lives will be as he wishes they would have been. All right so having established this pattern of morning and evening devotions and I think there's a ton of evidence which I've gone through and this and the other episode been a broadcast episode now we want to look at another subject related to all of this well how long should they be I mentioned 30 to 60 minutes in link maybe 90 minutes it's very rare that you'll have a Christian minister and any capacity say how long it should be maybe sometimes we'll say 10 minutes. Or I've heard some people say 15 minutes it's rare you get any amount of minutes but almost never 30 minutes to 90 minutes in terms of recommendation and I want to look at the arguments here for why that should be I didn't pull that number out of nowhere. But we do live in a time based society and if we don't give people and say how much time it is then people aren't going to know and then their lives won't be as strong as it would be otherwise so let's look at the information about how long they should be so the first century culture they were event based to not time based. And that most cultures in history have been event based that means you go and you do something and you stay until it's done and then you move on that's what event based culture is time based is it can only be done when a lot of people wearing watches or have phones and you can say I'll meet you at this minute at that time and you kind of move on according to your schedule. And so you could see where people would gather together and they don't have their watches on per se so they just stay until they're done and so when they would gather for these devotions morning and evening how long would they take well we do know some of the activities they would undertake when they would come together both the devout Jews and then the Christians in the first century. They would recite the decalogue which is the 10 commandments from memory Deuteronomy 5 1 to 21 they would also recite what's called the Shema that Deuteronomy 6 49 but a few other passages that are sometimes lumped in with that Deuteronomy 11 13 to 21 number 15 32 to 41 Shema means here like listen and that's the first word of this Deuteronomy 6 passage it's hero Israel the Lord your God the Lord is one of very important. And so they would recite all these verses from memory they would also recite these 18 benedictions called the Tefalah and then the Christians would add on to that and say the are our father the prayer our father prayer and so that takes a lot of time and so in doing this if you lay this out that can't be done faster than 20 minutes it's absolute 20 minutes that they would do this but we do know they would do other activities they would have corporate sometimes personal prayers additional script or readings sometimes discussions worship they would sing maybe hymns something like that so that would be on top so the question is how long would that be so I think it's fair to say it's 10 minutes up to maybe 70 minutes so the whole would be 30 to 90 minutes perhaps we'll look at some other evidence to there are a couple of passage in the scriptures that aren't determinative but they are suggestive acts 31 for instance it says Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer the ninth hour so this was the third a 3 p.m. And this was a time those in Jerusalem would go up to the temple mount and they would pray there and it was quote the hour of prayer suggested that was probably about an hour we also have Matthew 26 when Jesus is says he says and he came to the disciples and found them sleeping and he said to Peter could you not watch with me for one hour so to gather together for an hour draw close to the Lord seems to have been normal and common hence 60 minutes in length Now let's pull back and look at this from another angle I think this can be really helpful and I want to underscore how important it is that we say how many minutes it is it's not legalistic to say how many minutes it should be that you should have on average in terms of range legalistic again remember this is from another been a broadcast it means that you're mariting or earning something from God not if you're teaching people would God expects and in a time based culture we need to know the number of minutes because it's not an event based culture so let's pull back here and look at it from this perspective and that is if somewhere to ask you if you're to think about it and say what does it take and how much time is needed to be a collegiate athlete well you would probably ask friends or maybe you're a collegiate athlete and you would say well it's usually about three hours in the afternoon or so some sports is all year sometimes it's only part of the year then on weekends meets and games etc but it takes a certain amount of time to be competitive at the division one level it just does and if you went to a coach and asked him he would tell you and if he didn't tell you I think arguably it could be considered cruel because you're showing up for the meets and maybe you're only running 30 minutes a day if it's track and then you're failing every time and he puts your arm around you and tells you that God is sovereign and is trying to get next time where God is sovereign but there's a certain amount of time that needs to take to be ready athletically for the meet that in the same way there's a certain amount of time that it takes to be strong in the Lord on a day-to-day basis there's no getting around it not that we want to get around it all right how about if someone came up and said how much time does it take for you to become a medical doctor well you've got to take a lot of courses undergrad and biology you've got to take the GMAT do all of that then you've got to take years and medical school and then you've got your rotations then you have your residency then you have your fellowship it takes years of intense work and to tell somebody that it doesn't take that would be not fair to them and not considered of them to say well you can be a doctor if you or maybe you do well in the MCAT just say that and say if you studied one hour a week well you're not going to do well in the MCAT you're not going to pass it you're not going to get into medical school how about if someone said well what does it take to run a marathon I want to run a marathon but you better have about nine months to get ready for it and you got to work yourself up and you got to maintain two things you want to encourage them and help them to develop but then at the same time you got to be honest and say hey before you do the actual marathon marathon maybe a week before you know it might need to run as much as 20 miles and you need to be building up to that over time and each week you build up more and more in the nine months leading up to it so it's not denying what's needed to succeed in the marathon but at the same time you come alongside hopefully if you have the time and help them say well the first week you can't do 10 miles or probably maybe not five miles but let's do a mile or a couple miles and that's build up week by week till we get there and so it's a both then I think sometimes in a mindset of what someone to consider compassion is they don't want to say a amount of time because a person feel like they could never do it either it's not under schedule or they don't have the ability to do it I've had pastors tell me and these are good guys I had say they can't pray more than 10 minutes and so if they're not praying that much then they can't call their people to that level of prayer and so a lot of times people need encouragement and help but we don't want to take away how much time it's really needed we just need to put it out there and then leave people up to that by the grace of God now I've got a question for you to consider I ask this question to a lot of people gosh a number of years ago maybe back in 2008 2009 or so but it says if a person let's say have become a Christian a few years prior growing in the faith was well-established and then asked how much time should I spend in devotions each day if I want to have the spiritual strength faith and impact of Daniel what would you tell them and what's the basis of your answer now I ask this of people who I really respected people who had been missionaries overseas people who were about for the Lord and people did not want to answer the hymn and haught dodged around I think people are afraid of being called legalists or who knows what the reasons are but they didn't want to but I kept pushing and kept pushing and what's amazing is as I kept pushing and saying hey look they would say well maybe the person just has some performance problem and say no in this hypothetical example they don't have any performance problem and said well I don't want to take them away from their family they got plenty of time with their family just want to lay it out there say look you're coming to you and they want to know they want to be someone like Daniel who is devout and faithful to the Lord even in awful situations he's an amazing example for us says they want to be like him and they're asking you as an expert what it takes an amount of time of course during that time you need to do the right things you know repent of your sins be faithful but it also it takes a certain amount of time so how much time and every one of them when push finally said about two hours a day this is what they said to have that level of faith and so my follow up thought and consideration is that well when then when we're teaching about Daniel and to be strongest in the Lord shouldn't we tell people that shouldn't they know that not to overwhelm them but to let them know what it will take and what price they will need to pay because you have to pay the price to be in certain situations and they need to know maybe they'll choose not to do it but at least that they will know but isn't it awful if they want to be as devout as Daniel to have his strength and faith and yet they fail in the marketplace and tempting situations and they wonder why and they're only taking 10 minutes with God each day they should know the reasons why that's happening and they all said two hours a day so with all that in mind i think it's reasonable to say that your devotions should be Christians devotions should be 30 to 90 minutes in length morning and then same in the evening as a baseline to be strong in the Lord and with that kind of morning and evening pattern it'll contribute enormously to your spiritual well-being your spiritual health your the sense of God that you have in your life understanding him hearing him walk with him learning from him so here are a few takeaways so we want to have the pattern of two to four times per day we want to consider also sometimes doing devotions communally not wrong per se to do on your own but the pattern so often is with other people and this will really help you succeed if you devotions with your spouse or with your kids or even friends get on a prayer call on zoom or Microsoft Teams or something like that where you can pray with other people it's very encouraging don't know if you're not there it provides some accountability it really really helps it's like most athletes the vast majority of athletes would not be successful if they did all their training on their own the vast majority they need to come together they show up together and have that mutual accountability it's why for instance if you want to get good at running you get up you get a running partner so that you can do that together so doing devotions communally is wonderful consider an hour long 30 to 90 minutes in length and Christians in the first century held devotions morning and evening at a minimum and for approximately 60 minutes in group context so a few practicalities there's a lot more in this but I feel like I should wrap this up with a few practicalities during your devotional time we pen of your sins read and memorize the bible listen to the lord pray fervently and draw close to him in every way that you can this is a time very well spent and some establish a what they call a family alter alter meaning kind of a set place in their home where they gather to pray maybe a corner in the living room or a special room or something like that and so you all gather regularly as a family at certain times to draw close to the lord and in terms of Bible intake I recommend five to ten chapters of the bible per day and some in the morning some in the evening and a minimum would be two and a half in the morning two and a half in the evening and then of course more than that but that'll take you through the whole bible one to three times per year which is fantastic for your spiritual strengthening to be strong in the lord so the implications of morning and evening devotions shouldn't be expected that to see similar levels of spiritual strength and outpourings of a holy spirit that similar practice of seeking God should occur today as we look back at the times of great outpourings of the spirit in the us history for example this is how they solved the lord with this level of devotion it only makes sense that we have to have that same level of devotion this is true in the international church as well also what could be better than coming before the lord every morning and evening and experiencing his present it's a wonderful and beautiful thing and if you need help then ask for people to help you and find a way to overcome just as we do in other areas of our lives it's really wonderful and really beautiful now I want to close in this I think this is a little amusing because I was talking to a friend of mine who's a revival leader in the country of Uganda John Melenday and I was mentioning how I found all of these patterns in the scriptures once you know the historical background about the morning and evening prayer so after I go through a bunch of them with with them he's just smiles and says there's not a Christian in Uganda who does not know this and who does not live this way and then I reflected on it because one of the chapters where we are the places where we have a chapter of Christian Union and we have a college side to the Christian Union ministry that I lead we have Christian Union America which is to adults across America then we have Christian Union universities and we have chapters at a few schools and at Princeton I remember one young man from Sierra Leone he grew up there and came to Princeton and every night his family would call him and have their evening devotions with him via phone this is just normal life for many of our brothers sisters and other parts of the world whether it's great energy and great breakthrough for the faith Africa has seen I has gone from 10 million to 500 million Christians in the last hundred years and there's a reason why while the West has been declining every year we've been losing more Christians for decades now so may the Lord help us and may we draw close to him and be strong in him in every way so this is just the morning an evening part of having a pattern drawn close to the Lord other been a broadcast will hit other parts but you can also go to christian union dot org slash seven keys to see a full sort of in-depth curriculum on advancing the kingdom of God and this is part of that which I think you'll find very interesting and also consider joining this movement by going to christian union dot org slash cornerstone and help America return to God because as large numbers of Christians start to seek him as the Lord requires the Lord will do what he always has done always will do and bring great blessing to our families our cities and our country by his grace and by his power so thank you so much really really appreciate you being part of this been a broadcast thank you for listening this please share this with friends and may God bless you and let me close in prayer Lord we honor you we worship and praise you you're great awesome good bless wonderful and true and all your ways help us Lord to have a nation of Christians or it would be inconceivable that Christians wouldn't take time every morning every evening 30 to 90 minutes um those times there's a regular practice of giving you praise and drawing close to you in Jesus name we pray amen thank you so much and God bless you