Regaining Lost Ground

Shane Idleman: We want thirsty people in this church, hungry for more of God, hungry for more of God, thirst for more of God. Shane, that was mean, I know. That maybe wasn't the right thing to say, but it was true. Why would I want the lukewarm and the carnal who poke fun and don't want to be here, to be here?

You're welcome here, we love you, but drink deeply. Drink deeply of the well of living water and repent of that. Jesus said if you drink—not maybe, not we'll think about it, not the chances are good like the lottery—if you drink of this living water, you will never thirst again.

Guest (Male): Thank you for joining us here at Westside Christian Fellowship, located in Leona Valley, California, one hour north of Los Angeles. Today on Regaining Lost Ground, we hear the fifth and final part of this clarifying message titled, "What to do When You Don't Know What to Do."

Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Today, Pastor Shane teaches us the importance of relying on God for everything, dismissing doubt, sin, and distraction. Learn a better way in life right now on Regaining Lost Ground.

You can hear the whole message at Pastor Shane's YouTube and Rumble channels. Make sure to subscribe today. For more information, visit us online at westsidechristianfellowship.org. We also encourage you to hear more truth from Pastor Shane with the Idleman Unplugged weekly podcast. And now, from Westside Christian Fellowship in Leona Valley, California, here's Pastor Shane Idleman.

Shane Idleman: Based on this text, there is often a deep spiritual concern. Here is when you need to fast: there's a deep spiritual concern where concentration is needed to determine God's will. So if you need to determine God's will, I would incorporate a season of prayer and fasting. What that looks like is between you and the Lord. I wish I could tell you.

I do know this: if it doesn't cost you anything, I don't know if it's worth it. It has to cost something. That's between you and God. In the Bible, fasting is closing the mouth. So it would mainly mean, obviously, just drinking water. But of course, I can get into a whole sermon on that. I've got books on that that you can get from the ushers for free if you have questions on fasting. It can also involve protection, but it usually focuses on direction.

Ezra said we're going to journey and we need God's protection, so we're going to fast first. Something happens in the spiritual realm. Look at Daniel. Something happens where there's a protection. The early church actually—and I don't push this too much because you don't want to get legalistic about it, but we've lost it—if you look at the Didache, however you want to pronounce it, you can look at early church writings or the Wesley Methodists. Fasting was a weekly discipline.

It wasn't like January is not for eight more months. The problem is the appetite takes over really quickly. Fasting is a way of subduing the flesh. You live, you enjoy food how God intended, and then you subdue the flesh. You discipline the body versus it disciplining you. And again, as a fellow struggler, remember I've been honest before: food is my comfort. I know it's challenging. But the power of fasting is throughout scripture. It's so powerful.

Does anybody ever wonder if Jesus just had 40 days to blow? "I don't have anything to do for 40 days." Jesus, led of the Spirit, fasted. And He came out in the power of God. The Bible says that He came out in the power of God. Something rested on Him. I'm not going to overcomplicate this issue. Forty days is actually not impossible. Many of us have a lot of stored energy. Now you get into electrolyte balances and all that, which is between you and the Lord.

I wouldn't say that's for everybody. That's a special calling of God. But if we can't even do a day? You'll find out it's actually not the food; it's the chemicals, the addiction, and the sugar. It's an addict needing their fix. We look down on the alcoholic or the fentanyl addict, saying, "Oh, you poor addicts." Well, you can't stop caffeine, nicotine, or sugar. The results are worse, but the addiction is still the same. And that's why it's so hard the first couple days, because you're detoxing all the chemicals.

Fasting is a key aspect of repentance and is the primary mechanism for building self-discipline. If you don't incorporate fasting somehow into your lifestyle, it's going to be really hard to discipline your body because that's the main control mechanism of self-discipline: disciplining this. And when that falls under—and it's no secret—gluttony and pornography go together. Gluttony and alcoholism go together. It all fits together because it's tied to spiritual roots. So fasting, fasting, fasting. When you don't know what to do, fast.

And then next, obey. Obey, obey. Direction from God often comes from obedience. Breakthrough comes when we listen, and healing comes when we yield. You cannot ask God to bless what you're unwilling to surrender. Dr. David Jeremiah once said that. Many of you need to yield to major lifestyle changes for your health, physically and even spiritually. There's a yielding that needs to take place in our lives. Obey the Word of God. When you don't know what to do, obey the Word of God.

Okay, Shane, I'll think about fasting and I'm pretty good with God, I've repented. Good, good, good. Let's keep going. Pray. Pray, pray. God, give us a fresh look on this. I talked about this Wednesday, or the Wednesday before that. They estimate—and this blows my mind, I had to triple-research it and I still can't believe what I'm about to tell you—have you ever watched a video of what a trillion dollars looks like compared to a million? It's just gone.

In the observable universe—and I don't think the universe has end caps, I think it could be—they estimate two trillion, not stars, but galaxies. Do you know how big a galaxy is? A galaxy. If they said there's eight galaxies, I'd say, "Wow, that's a lot." Two trillion galaxies. And then how many stars are inside? I don't want to explode your brain. That God who created all of that—maybe it's just me, maybe I'm overly dramatic or overly sensitive—but that God says, "Call and I will answer. Cry out and I will hear."

That God who hung the universes and knows every star in place, that God says, "Call unto me and I will answer." Folks, you need to get back in the prayer closet. You need to be contending for your families. Men, where are you? Men, where are you? You're missing in action. Get on your face before God. Call out to Him. Guard your family. Guard your marriage. Guard this nation. What's going on in the nation? Look in the mirror.

I told Maury last month that Shane Idleman 2.0 might push some people away, but I'm not remaining quiet when I believe things are so important. The call is now. The call is now. If all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved, how much more His children? Think about that. All unbelievers, mockers, God-haters, all those who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. How much more when He hears the voice of His child?

I just can't picture the universe, that many, and this little tiny blue dot, and the Creator of all that says, "Pray. Seek." If we took that seriously, wouldn't we change our entire lives around prayer? Wouldn't we? Apathy, apathetic, myself included. But remember, many of our favorite verses are prayers, are they not? "O God, there's nothing we can do against this great army." "O God, rend the heavens." "O God, I cried out to the Lord and He heard me."

"My voice shall He hear in the morning, O Lord. My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord." And we pray, "Lord, come. Lord Jesus, come. Come upon Your people. Move upon Your people. Convict and comfort." We want to be a church, Lord, that is hungry for more of You. Can you imagine that prayer? Can you imagine if we prayed as a corporate body, "Lord, we are hungry for more of You. Holy Spirit, You're welcome in this place. Hungry for more of You, God. Come and convict us and challenge us and change us, God. We need You. Hungry, we desire more of You."

And if I haven't ruffled feathers yet, this last point will. If prayer is a priority, so is worship. And when you don't know what to do—this has been my life for the last month. This has literally been my life for the last month. When you don't know what to do, worship. Worship is not separate from prayer; it is prayer in its most surrendered form. It's basically the heart reaching out to God when words are no longer sufficient. Anybody been there?

Did you know people have a hard time worshipping because they have a hard time praying? That's the connection. That's always the connection. Worshippers are prayer warriors and prayer warriors are worshippers. They're not separate things. It's who we are. We have to worship the living God. I remember when you first started, we had some people leave. It always happens with my preaching or worship; one of the two gets them out. "Man, that's just too emotional. Pastor, that's too emotional. Your church is too emotional. I'm not an emotional person."

And I said, "Well, your wife says you express anger real well." You're handcuffed. Your emotions are not engaged with God. How can you not worship a God who created all of that? See, the more you seek Him, the more you find Him. And the more you find Him, the more you seek Him. We're not here reminiscing; we are battling. When we sing the old hymns sometimes, we're not reminiscing; we're battling. This is spiritual warfare.

It's not nostalgia; it's warfare. That's what worship is. This is how I fight my battles. This is how you'll lead the prodigal son home or the wayward daughter. This is how you will cover your family. When all hell is breaking loose, you find an altar and you get to it. Whether that altar is your home or somewhere in the desert, you get to that place and you cry out to God. The reason the church is not alive in America and revival breaking out is there's too much carnality, too much lukewarmness, everyone jockeying for position.

We need to get back to that heart of worship. We're not just killing time with worship; we're killing sin. You shouldn't be bored when you're going to war. Before they drop SEAL Team Six off, they're not sleeping on the helicopter. Everything's up. They're ready. Let's open the door. Let's land this thing. We're going to war. Why is the church bored? We're callous. We're bored. "Here we go. I don't know if I should even go to church this week."

When I was a kid, it was every Sunday. Now it's 1.2 Sundays. I don't know where they get the .2 from. But sports has taken over Sunday: travel ball, sports, NASCAR, basketball. We've lost our heart of worship, and that's why the church is dead. Well, Shane, I don't think we're going to war. Well, what are you going to do when the lion comes after your family? Hey, hotshot, what are you going to do when the lion comes after you?

Not Jesus the Lion—thank God for that Lion—but your adversary. Don't get all comfortable. You have an adversary. You're not that protected. I'm not that protected. Nobody's that protected. We have an adversary. The Bible says that he is to kill, to steal, and to destroy. That's his goal. That's his mission. That's a target on your life until the last breath you take. You're in war. You better act like it.

Many people act like they're guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier during worship. Dignified, strong. "I'm not emotional." Have you ever seen those guys? It's pretty impressive. Watch a video when it's raining and stormy. "I'm dignified. I'm reserved. I'm guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I'm steadfast. I'm solid." You're not guarding God; He's guarding you. And that's how you do it: you become worshippers. You become worshippers.

Guys, I know the hardness of the human heart, especially in men. We think toughness and tenderness don't go together. Yet we have Jesus as the perfect example of tenderness and toughness. When we worship, it reminds us—I talked to you about this before—the Bible says to taste and see that the Lord is good. Taste and see. Look at these promises. How can we sit and be disengaged in church?

The living God who hung the universes out there somewhere says to taste and see that the Lord is good. And like a deer that pants after the brook, my soul panteth for Thee. If you don't have that soul panting for Him, pray out to God. Repent of your apathy. Repent of that apathy. "One thing have I desired." David—you think you're tough? Have you killed Philistines? David was a man of war. David was a man who couldn't even build God's house. God said, "No, no, your son's going to do it because you've shed too much blood. You are a man of war."

And yet he says, "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life." One thing will I seek. That's it. Because everything else falls into place. Everything else falls into place. O God, You are my God. O God, You are my God. You are our God. Early will I seek You. My soul thirsts for You. My flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.

And I'll close with this verse, John 4:10, while we're talking about thirsty and water and living water. Jesus said to the woman, "If you knew the gift of God." It's a gift of God. Living water is a gift from God. Once you drink of this well, you will never thirst again. Once you drink of the living water, you don't want anything else. That's why all these different religions can't pull you away. I don't want anything else. Nothing satisfies me like living water.

He said if you knew of this living water, you would say, "Give me a drink," and I would have given you living water. Every time I preach, every opportunity, that's why I'm excited. I know I tick some people off. I know I've got some people sitting here huffing and puffing. I don't care. I don't care because I'm after the thirsty. Are you thirsty? Are you thirsty? If you're not thirsty, there's the door. We want thirsty people in this church, hungry for more of God, hungry for more of God, thirst for more of God.

Shane, that was mean, I know. That maybe wasn't the right thing to say, but it was true. Why would I want the lukewarm and the carnal who poke fun and don't want to be here, to be here? You're welcome here, we love you, but drink deeply. Drink deeply of the well of living water and repent of that. Jesus said if you drink—not maybe, not we'll think about it, not the chances are good like the lottery—if you drink of this living water, you will never thirst again.

So wouldn't our position in worship be, "Pour in. Pour into my heart, God. Pour in. I need to drink deeply. Lord, I'm hurting, I'm broken. I don't feel that presence anymore. I'm a leaky vessel. The living water, God, I need that again." And you cry out and you begin to seek God and you get filled with His Spirit. And it empowers you and challenges you and changes you.

And then you get up and say, "Even though I don't know what to do, I'm going to follow Him and He's going to show me what to do." But here's a reminder: the Christian drinks to be nourished; the unbeliever must drink to be saved. So those listening—I don't know if they're here this morning or listening later—you need to fully surrender, repent of your sin, and believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord.

Have you ever—I don't care if you've been a Christian all your life, you were raised in a Christian home, your parents were Christians, you were raised Baptist—none of that matters. Have you repented and believed? You must drink of this living water to be saved. So if you need to make that decision during worship, just pray, "Lord, I need that. I need to repent. I've been following the wrong thing. I've been misled, and I need to come home. I need you to save me, Lord." And He will do that.

Guest (Male): You've been listening to Regaining Lost Ground with Pastor Shane Idleman. You can find more information at westsidechristianfellowship.org. That's westsidechristianfellowship.org. And for all the latest on what God is doing with His ministry here, please be sure to follow us on most social media platforms.

Westside Christian Fellowship is located 60 miles north of Los Angeles in Leona Valley, California. Thank you again for listening to today's message of Regaining Lost Ground, where we are reminded daily: times change, truth does not.