Telling the Truth

Guest (Male): On today's program, Stuart Briscoe closes out this year's teaching with an important word as we head into the New Year, with his message, The Barrenness of Busyness. That's coming up, but first, right now is one of the most important times of the year for Telling the Truth. As we approach December 31st, generous friends have stepped forward with a special matching grant that will double your gift to help more people experience life in Christ.

That means your support will go twice as far to help share God's Word around the world through Stuart and Jill's biblical teaching, digital broadcasts, and global partnerships. So don't miss this powerful opportunity to make an even greater impact before midnight December 31st, while your gift will be doubled through this special matching grant. Call 262-788-4648. That's 262-788-4648, or give online at tellingthetruth.org. Now, here's Stuart Briscoe with his message, The Barrenness of Busyness.

Stuart Briscoe: It is so easy to be desperately busy in this world. There are so many opportunities, so many demands, so many things that need to be done, so many things that we can do if we want to. But if we're not careful, we may not be aware of the barrenness of busyness. That's what I want to talk to you about. Beware of the barrenness of busyness.

Jesus was on the way with his disciples, and I like that expression: he was on the way with his disciples. It's rather interesting to notice that whilst they were on the way and on the go, the Lord Jesus went with them to the home where his friends lived: Lazarus, Martha, and Mary. Martha realized that Jesus and his hungry, hairy disciples were arriving for lunch, and so she did what a good hostess would do: she set to work to prepare a meal for them. So far, so good.

Unfortunately, busy as she was, she was becoming increasingly ticked. She was getting very frustrated. The reason that she was getting very frustrated was that she didn't really think she was being adequately appreciated. The result was that here she was, so busy, and yet there was a certain emptiness to her busyness. There was no joy.

It can happen at church. It can actually happen at church. There's so much to do and there aren't enough people to do it, and so you've volunteered and now you're stuck with it, and you're busy for Jesus, but there's that inner sense of frustration and emptiness and the joy has gone. The problem was exacerbated in Martha's case, of course, by the fact that Mary, her sister, wasn't helping at all. So now she is double-ticked, for she is not only frustrated with the situation, but she is frustrated with the people involved in the situation.

So she comes up to the Lord Jesus and she says to him, "Would you tell my sister to get around and do something significant?" She must have been deeply chagrined with the answer of the Lord Jesus. "Martha," he said, "there's one thing necessary that is missing in your busyness." What was it? Well, we're told what it was. While Martha was busy doing that which was legitimate, busy doing that which was necessary, busy doing it to the best of her ability, busy doing it in order that it might really serve people—all perfectly proper things—there was one thing missing, and it was this: she wasn't taking the time in her busyness to sit at his feet and hear his word.

Therein lies one of the problems of busyness. The barrenness of busyness can come because in the busyness of our lives, we are not taking the time to sit at his feet and hear his word. Now, of course, if you were to ask the average Christian—if you could decide what an average Christian is and then find one—"What does the Bible say about man shall not live by bread alone?" they would tell you, "Oh, what it says is man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God."

Then you say to average Christian, "Then how come you try to get by on a minimum diet of God's Word?" Now, that's a good question. How come you would quote with approval, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God"? How come you quote that approvingly, and yet in actual fact, the realistic, meaningful intake of that quiet taking in of God's Word is not a priority in your life?

That's a question that I believe many of God's people need to answer, including pastors, including elders, including deacons, including church workers. You see, because we're the busy ones. We're the busy ones doing his work. Yet one of the strangest anomalies of even Christian work is this: so often we can be so busy giving out that we're neglecting the steady input of the careful taking in of God's Word.

The difference between the barrenness of Martha and the blessedness of Mary was that Mary was smart enough to sit at his feet and hear his word. Now, let's apply this as far as the modern person is concerned. What would happen to a person who, in the midst of a busy life, is neglecting the input of God's Word? Well, one thing that would be clearly deficient in their lives is a sense of direction.

If it is true that God created us for himself, is committed to a relationship with us, and that relationship is based on his self-revelation—and on what other basis could it possibly be based? Then the extent to which we are in tune with that revelation of himself and his purposes will determine the sense of direction and purpose for our life. We are made by God, for God, to live through God and go to God and be answerable unto God.

We come from him, we live through him, we go to him. But if we don't know what he's saying, and we don't know what he's directing, and we don't know what he's ordering, and we don't know what he's promising—guess what? There will be a marked lack of direction in our lives. Into the vacuum of a marked lack of direction will flood innumerable things from the cacophony of voices that fills our ears.

Guest (Male): More powerful teaching from the Briscoes is headed your way, so don't go anywhere. We've made a wide array of resources and content available to you online for free at tellingthetruth.org and on the Telling the Truth app. There you can listen, read, and watch powerful teaching from Stuart and Jill on relevant topics like the sovereignty of God, the importance of the church, and how to grow closer with Jesus Christ.

You can also request this month's featured resource as thanks for your gift of support to help share the abundant life Jesus offers with more people around the world. Visit us online or download the app today and experience life with Telling the Truth. Now, here's Stuart once again.

Stuart Briscoe: Immediately after this story in Luke chapter 10, Luke chapter 11 recounts how the disciples observed Jesus praying. As they observed him praying, it struck them that this was rather intriguing. Here was Jesus, who seemed so incredibly capable, who seemed so incredibly together, who seemed to be able to handle all kinds of situations, for some unknown reason seemed to think that prayer was necessary. He did it regularly.

So after observing this on one occasion, the disciples said to Jesus, "Master, would you please teach us to pray?" And he said, "Gladly." He said, "When you pray, pray: 'Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.'" Okay, let's keep it there. It's no accident that Luke put this story immediately after the other story.

For you see, as these men are on the way, busily on the go, he's already pointed out to them that in their busyness there'll be a barrenness if they do not hear his word. Now what he is going to show them is this: that if they are going to handle their busyness without lapsing into barrenness, they will not only have to hear his word, but they'll also have to talk back to him. For you know as well as I do that a healthy relationship needs healthy communication, and healthy communication needs listening and responding.

So the Lord Jesus is saying, in effect, make sure you're not only getting a regular diet of God's Word that is being presented to you in the preaching and the teaching of the word and in your own personal devotions in such a way that you read it, mark it, learn it, and inwardly digest it, but also make sure that you are then translating the input into an overflow of prayer. Beware of the barrenness of busyness that will come if you miss out on the blessedness, and you miss out on the blessedness if you don't hear his word and you don't speak to him in prayer.

But Jesus didn't say "if you pray." He said "when you pray." The first thing, of course, he pointed out was that it's very important that you pray to the right person. Who are we to pray to? We are to pray to our Father in heaven. Notice, please, the careful balance here. Notice that the God to whom we pray is wonderfully approachable, like a father is approachable. But notice that he is also awesome in that he is the Father in heaven.

So when we pray, we pray with that mingled sense of boldness and sense of awesomeness. Maintain the balance. Then notice what the priority of your prayer should be. Number one: "I want your name to be hallowed." What it means is this: "Father in heaven, my prime concern as I come before you in prayer is that you might be honored. Because Father, I'll tell you something, where I live, you're not. Where I work, you're not."

"Sometimes in my own life, you're not honored. But I want you to know, Lord, that that is increasingly the desire of my heart. Oh Lord, while I'm at it, not only do I want your name to be hallowed, I also want your kingdom to be extended because I tell you something: the kingdoms of this world are a disaster. The world in which I live is going to hell in a handbasket. What I'm concerned about is to see your name honored, and I want to see your kingdom expanded."

"Father, while I'm at it, what I really want to know is how can we see your will done on Earth the way it is in heaven? I'm not sure how it's done in heaven, but I guess they do it well. So how can that happen down here?" Is that how we pray? Sometimes when we pray, it sounds a little bit like a shopping list. Instead of "Father in heaven, I want you to know the orientation of my life is that your name might be honored, your kingdom might come, your will might be done."

"Oh, and by the way, Lord, having outlined that those are my priorities, could I just ask you for some physical needs that I've got? I need my daily bread." And he says, "Certainly." "Oh, and Lord, can I also talk to you about some relational problems I've got? Because I need to be forgiven as I forgive. Because I'm having problems being forgiven by some people, and I'm having problems forgiving some people, and I've got some relational hassles here. So is it all right if I talk to you about that?" He says, "Certainly."

"Oh, and Lord, would it also be all right if I talk to you about some spiritual problems I've got because I've got an awful problem with temptation? And would it be all right if I asked you to help me with this whole hassle of temptation?" "Oh, what took you so long? I'm so glad you asked." I want you to see something. I want you to see how in the busyness of our lives, we can become so busy that we've lost sense of the need for his name to be hallowed, for his kingdom to come, for his will to be done.

And sometimes we are even so busy dealing with our physical situation, trying to sort out our relationships, and battle through our spiritual temptations, or even succumb to them, that it doesn't occur to us what we should be doing is sitting at his feet and hearing his word and responding to him in prayer. Because if we don't do that, you see, our busyness might turn into barrenness.

The Lord Jesus continued his teaching on prayer by simply insisting that we should do it persistently and urgently. Then he said this: "Now listen, if a boy were to ask his father for a fish, would his dad give him a serpent?" The disciples said, "No, of course not. No, of course not." "And if he were to ask for some bread, would he give him a stone? Of course not." He said, "And are these fathers perfect? No, of course not."

"Well then, if imperfect fathers know how to give good gifts to their children, is it not reasonable to assume that the perfect heavenly Father knows how to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask, who go on asking, and who go on seeking, and who go on knocking?" Jesus is putting his finger on the third thing that will make sure that our busyness does not degenerate into barrenness. You know what it is?

Well, the first thing is, of course, we make sure that we sit at his feet and hear his word. The second thing is that we make sure that we come before him in prayer. And the third thing is that we make certain that we are drawing from him constantly the resources of the blessed Holy Spirit. We use a lot of traditional music, we use a lot of contemporary music. Some of the traditional music is pretty mediocre, and some of the contemporary music is no better.

Some of the traditional music is superb, and some of the contemporary music is great. One of my favorites—somebody said to me that some of the contemporary songs they'd heard came from the 7-Eleven store. I said, "7-Eleven store, what do you mean?" He said, "Seven words repeated eleven times." I've got some good ones about traditional music as well, but I won't get into that now.

But one of them I do like is Melody Green's song: "Thank you, oh my Father, sending us your Son, and leaving your Spirit till the work on Earth is done." Sisters and brothers, the work on Earth will not get done without men and women who know what it is to be sitting at his feet and hearing his word, who know what it is to come before him in prayer, and who know what it is to live in the fullness and the anointing of his Spirit.

Now I know that you know that it is impossible to be a Christian without having the Holy Spirit. I know that you can quote the verse: "If any man has not the spirit of Christ, he's no Christian." I know that you understand that the only way that you can receive Christ is to receive Christ by his Spirit. I know that you know the only way that you can be regenerate is by the Holy Spirit. In other words, I know that you know that if you're a Christian, you have received the Holy Spirit.

But you see, the problem is this: that sometimes we simply say, "I received the Holy Spirit, that's it. Now I can just worship Jesus, or I can just talk to the Father." Well, there are three members of the Trinity. What Jesus is saying here is this: that he is sending his Spirit into the world, and we not only need to be sure that we are indwelt by his Spirit, but we need to be sure that on a daily, ongoing basis we are drawing from him by not grieving him, by not quenching him, and by living in the conscious fullness of his indwelling presence.

You know what that means? It means that we not only take time to hear his word and take time to come before him in prayer, but it means that we take time to carefully, meticulously apply the word that we're hearing and the prayers that we're praying to the innermost recesses of our hearts. You see, one of the dangers is this: that we can become so used to the atmosphere of the Christian music and even the Christian message that we don't take it to heart.

We don't mix it with faith. We don't render obedience to it. What do we do with the promises of God? We claim them. But there's another thing here: there are promises to be claimed, there are commands to be obeyed. The question that we ask ourselves as we come before him and hear his word and respond to him in prayer and seek that we might know the freshness of the fullness of his Spirit—the question we're always asking ourselves is this: what are the promises I need to be claiming? What are the commands I need to obey?

Busyness without blessedness equals barrenness. Beware the barrenness of a busy life.

Guest (Male): Thanks for joining us today. We hope today's message has encouraged you to know Christ more deeply and live in the joy of his truth. Right now is one of the most important times of the year for Telling the Truth. As we approach December 31st, generous friends have stepped forward with a special matching grant that will double your gift to help more people experience life in Christ.

That means your support will go twice as far to help share God's Word around the world through Stuart and Jill's biblical teaching, digital broadcasts, and global partnerships. Every day lives are being transformed as people discover the peace and purpose that only Jesus gives, and your year-end gift makes that possible. So don't miss this powerful opportunity to make an even greater impact before midnight December 31st, while your gift will be doubled through this special matching grant.

Call 262-788-4648. That's 262-788-4648, or give online at tellingthetruth.org. Thank you for helping others experience life in Christ through the unchanging truth of God's Word. Thanks for being with us today. Come back next time for more encouragement and biblical truth from God's Word. Experience life right here on Telling the Truth, and Happy New Year.