0:05

Does God feel very far away

0:09

today? When you pray, does it feel like

0:11

he's too distant to hear you?

0:14

Ryan responded to that on Facebook.

0:16

Lately. I don't hear him and I

0:18

know he, the Holy Spirit, is in me,

0:20

but it feels like I am alone.

0:23

And Ann responded to Ryan and said,

0:25

me too. Do

0:27

these words echo in your heart today?

0:30

Why, Lord, do you stand far off?

0:32

Why do you hide your face? Why

0:34

are you so far from helping me? How

0:37

long Lord? I

0:39

get nothing but trouble all day long.

0:42

Those words are straight from the word.

0:44

Straight from the heart of the psalmist

0:47

who wrote them today at the radio backyard

0:49

fence. Leslie Leland Fields helps

0:51

us move toward this God who sometimes

0:54

feels very distant

0:56

from us. She writes, I'm well

0:58

versed in theology, but it often stays

1:01

stuck in my head. Sometimes

1:03

I forget God is here. I

1:05

don't always believe he wants to hear from

1:07

me. I struggle to believe I'm accepted

1:09

and forgiven. My heart goes

1:11

cold and numb. Sometimes

1:14

I just want to run my own

1:17

life. Ever feel that way?

1:19

If those words echo your own heart,

1:21

don't miss the conversation straight ahead here

1:23

on Chris Fabry Live Online

1:25

Chris Fabry Live. Org

1:27

thanks to our team Ryan Conway doing all

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1:34

Thank you friends and partners of this program.

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1:41

And when you do that for two more weeks, we're

1:43

sending Glenna marshall's book, which goes

1:45

right along with our conversation today.

1:47

It's titled Memorizing Scripture.

1:49

If you feel like you can't do that,

1:52

if you think you're way past the memorizing

1:55

stage of life, you know that's for those young whippersnappers.

1:57

Glenn gives practical help and hope

2:00

that you can still hide God's

2:03

Word, and it will do something inside.

2:05

I was reading the section today on Renewing

2:07

Your Mind. She writes on

2:09

page 105. Invariably,

2:12

the process of renewal must

2:14

always begin in our

2:16

minds, as I've spent the last several

2:18

years actively hiding God's Word. In my

2:20

heart, I've noticed a major

2:23

shift in how I think,

2:25

react, process,

2:27

and respond to life

2:30

circumstances. The more I dwell on scripture,

2:33

the less appealing I find the

2:35

worldly offerings of entertainment

2:37

and leisure. The more I mumble and

2:39

meditate on the Bible, the less

2:41

at home I feel on this earth.

2:44

It's really encouraging.

2:46

You can do it, friend. I can do

2:48

it. You can do it. Give a gift of any size

2:50

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2:55

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2:57

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3:05

Give a gift of any size or if you can't give,

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I'd love for you to have it too, because I believe

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somebody else will give. Go to Chris

3:11

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3:13

Chris Fabry live org

3:16

scroll down. You can support us right

3:18

there. And thank you for being a friend or partner with

3:20

us today. Leslie

3:22

Leyland Fields is an internationally

3:25

recognized speaker, teacher, multi-award

3:27

winning author of more than a dozen

3:29

books, including Your Story Matters

3:32

for Giving Our Fathers and Mothers

3:34

and Crossing the Waters, Following

3:36

Jesus Through the Storms of the Fish, The

3:38

drought and the Seas Which Won Christianity

3:41

Today's Christian Living Book of the year.

3:44

She has three graduate degrees

3:46

and she's still going to talk to me. She's

3:48

taught extensively at the undergraduate

3:50

and graduate level. She leads faith

3:52

and writing retreats around the world,

3:54

as well as on the island where she

3:56

lives in the summer, and they go

3:58

fishing for salmon. She lives on Kodiak

4:01

Island, but Harvester Island

4:03

is where she and her family commercial

4:05

salmon fish. Ah,

4:09

I catch my breath nearing a far.

4:11

God is our featured resource today.

4:13

Leslie. Welcome back. How are you doing?

4:15

I am doing so well.

4:17

It's great to be back with you, Chris.

4:19

And today is the day that the book releases.

4:21

So it's a very special day for

4:23

all of us. And I got the I had the opportunity

4:26

to read this ahead of time, and I

4:28

am so with you and what

4:30

you do even more. You know, I've

4:32

talked a lot about pray this, prayed the

4:35

scriptures back to God, pray what he has

4:37

given us. But you've gone

4:39

even further with this, and I

4:41

want to talk about it because your

4:44

personal story is interwoven

4:46

throughout what you take us back

4:48

to in the Psalms. Why did you do that?

4:51

You know that that's a great question, because

4:53

the Psalms are we think of them as

4:55

songs, as poems, and they are,

4:58

but they tell a story. The

5:01

whole the entire book of the Psalms

5:03

actually take us from Genesis

5:06

to Revelation, and they

5:08

tell the story of

5:11

God's people and

5:13

that story of God's people.

5:16

We're invited into that story,

5:18

and we're invited. I believe that

5:20

we're invited to step into

5:22

those Psalms with our own voice,

5:25

with our own story

5:27

along this, um, path.

5:29

You know, this pilgrim path

5:31

which isn't always really

5:34

fun and smooth. You know,

5:36

there's a lot of bumps and rough

5:38

places along the way. And so

5:40

my story is

5:42

a way to open up David's

5:44

story and then the Hebrew

5:47

story. And then at the end

5:49

of each chapter, I invite,

5:52

you know, the reader to step in with

5:54

their story as well.

5:56

Yeah. So it's a very practical,

5:59

uh, writing intensive way

6:01

to look at the Psalms and to filter

6:03

your own life through them and then

6:06

them through your own life. Right?

6:08

Yeah. That's right, that's right. That's a that's

6:10

a good way of putting it. And, and here's,

6:13

here's why I did this. Well, I, you

6:15

probably read how this book started.

6:17

This book actually started 20 years

6:19

ago on that island

6:22

in Alaska, Wilderness Island.

6:24

I have six children, one

6:26

girl and five boys. And

6:29

we are we're on this island where there

6:31

are no cars. There are no roads. We

6:33

I am, I am trapped,

6:36

and it feels like you're trapped when

6:38

it's been raining for a week

6:40

and there's nowhere to go, there's nowhere

6:43

to go. And my kids were fighting

6:45

all the time. And fishing was intense.

6:47

And. And I just was desperate

6:50

for God. He felt

6:52

so, so far away. I just couldn't.

6:55

I couldn't find him. I couldn't

6:58

hear him, I couldn't. And,

7:00

you know, I was reading the word of God,

7:02

right? I wasn't completely,

7:04

you know, heretical, but,

7:07

um, I just I suddenly

7:09

remembered the Psalms.

7:11

They're so full of lament. And I

7:13

knew I needed lament. And

7:16

so I started, I just turned

7:18

to the Psalms and I

7:20

started reading them. But I felt this urge

7:22

like, no, I need to do more

7:25

than just read them. I need

7:27

to step into them. I need to pick

7:29

up a pen. I need to write

7:31

them out. I need to I need

7:33

to engage my body in this.

7:35

Not just my, you know, just not

7:38

silent reading, which

7:40

is what we do with the scriptures so much

7:42

of the time. And I

7:45

started to do that. I wrote into the lament Psalms,

7:47

and I began to cry out my own laments. And

7:49

God met me there, Chris.

7:52

He met me there in those

7:54

psalms, and in that time

7:56

spent with him and that and that's what

7:58

started this whole journey

8:00

into into the whole book of

8:03

of the Psalms.

8:04

Nearing a far God, praying

8:06

the Psalms with our whole

8:08

selves. Now, that was the first thing. Even

8:11

when I looked at the the subtitle,

8:13

it's like, what do you mean by our

8:15

whole selves? I want to get into that.

8:17

And I also want to hear the practical

8:19

way there's an acrostic nearing

8:22

that we're going to talk about here today. And then

8:25

how you write this out. There's

8:27

a tactical, you want left brain and right

8:29

brain to be affected by this.

8:31

But it's a very practical

8:34

book on your

8:36

connecting with God himself.

8:38

And I want to ask you a question. As you listen

8:40

to Leslie and me talk today,

8:43

what Psalm speaks to your life situation

8:45

right now? Is there a Psalm that

8:47

you have? I've been praying this psalm

8:50

or this verse

8:52

over and over, and I've ruminated

8:54

on it. I've been mumbling this verse to myself,

8:57

what is that and why?

8:59

What's your life situation? 877548367518775483.

9:08

Six, seven, five. And

9:11

Leslie, since today is the day that the book

9:13

comes out, there's also

9:15

an offer for anyone who purchases

9:17

Nearing a Far God to receive

9:20

a free audiobook, and

9:22

and Leslie narrates it, so

9:24

it's worth the price of buying

9:26

just that itself. But if

9:28

you buy the book, you also get a free

9:30

audiobook. You can find out how to do that.

9:32

We have a link at Chris Faber

9:35

Live, or got to receive a free audiobook

9:37

of nearing a Far God,

9:39

and you can see that right there. Chris Fabri

9:41

Livorno org.

9:44

Our number is (877) 548-3675.

9:48

As we talk about the Psalms today

9:50

at the radio backyard fence. You

10:02

are not going to hear ten steps to a more

10:04

fulfilling Prayer life today

10:06

at the back fence, what you're going to hear

10:09

is, if there is part

10:11

of your heart that feels like God is way

10:13

out there, and you're down here

10:15

and you're wondering, does he hear

10:17

me? Does he see me? Does he

10:19

care about me? That's

10:22

what Leslie talks about in

10:24

nearing a Father God praying the Psalms

10:26

with our whole selves. It's our featured

10:28

resource at Chris Fabry Live. Org.

10:31

So what do you mean by that

10:33

phrase with our

10:35

whole selves?

10:37

Yeah, that's a really important phrase.

10:40

You know, when what? When God

10:42

showed up, um, on

10:44

that mountain before his people, the

10:46

Hebrews, as he was calling them to

10:48

himself, he said,

10:51

hey, everybody, love

10:53

you are to I want you to love

10:56

the Lord your God with all

10:59

of your mind, heart, soul,

11:02

and strength. Right? He didn't say, with

11:04

just your mind, I want you to love God. I want you

11:06

to love me with just your mind.

11:08

That's enough. He didn't say with

11:10

just your soul. That's enough. He

11:12

said, all of it. All

11:14

of it. And? That.

11:17

That means all right. All means all.

11:19

And that means our body. That means

11:21

our. Our emotions

11:24

are our heart, our soul, our spirit.

11:27

And I, I think that

11:29

we have approached knowing

11:32

God. We have approached

11:34

spiritual formation. Through

11:37

the mind so much

11:40

that we have ignored all

11:42

these other parts to ourselves. And we

11:44

are integrated beings. We are fully

11:46

integrated beings. When I

11:48

look back on my years and in

11:51

college and man, I wanted

11:53

to know God, I was went to a Christian college

11:55

and and so I took every

11:58

Bible class, I studied Greek,

12:00

I never went so far as to go,

12:02

you know, study Hebrew. That was like,

12:05

that's like going to the moon. I couldn't do that.

12:07

But but I studied Greek. I,

12:09

you know, like, I, I did word studies.

12:11

I mean, I studied, study studied, and I've

12:14

spent so much of my life

12:16

studying the scriptures, but

12:19

the Psalms have really

12:21

opened up how

12:23

deficient that

12:25

approach is. And really

12:27

coming to love God, not just know

12:30

God, right? Yes.

12:31

But because you talk about the knowledge

12:34

of God versus the ability

12:36

to trust and to believe, and

12:39

Lockerbie, you experience him.

12:41

It's it's it's not. But and

12:43

you're not saying don't think about it and don't know

12:46

things or do word studies, but

12:48

there is more to it than just

12:50

knowing the answers to the

12:53

big questions that you have.

12:55

It is. It was because really, we

12:57

don't need more information about

12:59

God. We need

13:02

we need to be with God. We need

13:04

to meet God. And

13:06

and the Psalms are so.

13:09

The Psalms are the only book in

13:11

the Bible. So, Chris, a

13:13

lot of us are familiar with the Psalms

13:16

and and we don't even think about this,

13:18

but the Psalms are utterly unique

13:20

in the whole word of

13:22

God. So. And the rest of

13:24

God's Word, God speaks.

13:27

I mean that this is what this is. This

13:29

is God's Word. God is speaking to

13:31

his people, and he

13:33

speaks, you know, from a burning bush.

13:36

And he speaks on top of a mountain, and he

13:38

speaks through prophets, and he

13:40

even speaks through a donkey.

13:43

But there's one book in the Bible

13:45

where man speaks

13:47

back. And that's

13:49

what the whole book is, is man speaking

13:52

back to God. And so think about this.

13:54

The Holy Spirit inspired

13:58

these men, these Psalms,

14:00

to speak these prayers

14:02

back to God. And

14:05

we might say, oh, wow, that's that's

14:07

pretty amazing. Yeah, there's no other there's

14:09

no other book that really does that. And then

14:11

we stop to think about, well, what

14:13

kind of prayers are these? Are these like, you

14:15

know, lovely, beautiful,

14:18

holy, you know, pious,

14:20

calm words? No,

14:23

they are they're they're angry

14:25

words. They're they're words of accusation,

14:28

even. God, where are you? Why

14:31

are you so far from me? Why

14:33

do you not, you know, answer me.

14:35

Oh my goodness. We get to

14:38

listen in to

14:40

to God's people with their.

14:43

Yeah, their howls and their yells and

14:45

their doubts and their fears and

14:47

their anguish. I mean,

14:49

we get to hear from every part of them,

14:52

every part of their life

14:54

and every part of their being.

14:56

That's that's what the

14:59

whole self is all about.

15:00

Okay. There's a great answer to that. So

15:03

the follow up question then the the next logical

15:05

question that I think that we're

15:07

dealing with is why then are

15:09

we so afraid to be ourselves

15:11

with God? Because I meet and

15:13

talk with so many different people, and I'm one of them

15:15

who feels like I got to clean up my language,

15:18

or and I'm not saying to curse

15:20

at God, but to I've got to clean up myself

15:23

and present the best self to

15:25

him, rather than just

15:27

being who I am and what I'm going

15:30

through and pouring that out. I

15:32

try to manage that, my

15:34

image to him. So why do we have

15:36

such a hard time with that?

15:38

I think we don't really get how much,

15:41

how much our father loves us. I

15:44

think we don't really get that

15:46

that he he

15:48

sent his son to die in the cross because

15:50

he didn't want to live a moment

15:53

apart from us. And

15:55

he wants us to experience that. I

15:57

think we don't really quite believe it. I

16:00

think we don't quite really trust

16:02

it. And let me tell you, it

16:04

has been a lifelong struggle for me

16:06

to to believe this

16:08

and trust it and build my

16:10

life on this truth. And

16:13

there are lots of reasons for that. If,

16:15

you know, I grew up in a family where

16:17

I did not experience love,

16:20

and so that

16:22

that that becomes a barrier, right?

16:24

And there's so many people out there listening

16:26

right now who know exactly

16:29

what that feels like. And if

16:31

you don't experience love from

16:34

your mother, your father, your your

16:36

spouse, your, your family,

16:38

then it's then we have a hard time

16:40

believing, Can God really

16:43

can my Heavenly Father really

16:45

love me, really accept me

16:47

just as I am?

16:50

I think that's it. For me,

16:52

it's it's the, the

16:55

marginalization, you know, that I went

16:57

through as a kid or,

16:59

uh, not really not

17:01

having time to pay attention, you know, either

17:04

in family or in school or wherever it happened

17:06

to you, the kind of pushing yourself up to

17:08

the to the side, the hymn

17:10

that talks about, uh, and

17:12

I'll walk by his side in the way,

17:15

you know, that that old him. I've always

17:17

felt that way. It's like. I mean, Jesus way.

17:19

He's like, get out of the way. Come on. You're supposed to follow

17:21

me, you know, don't don't stand in front of me. And

17:24

so if you feel that way,

17:27

uh, emotionally, uh,

17:29

with your life, that you're kind of a

17:31

bother to everybody

17:33

and to and especially to God,

17:36

then you're not going to get closer

17:39

to, you're not going to draw near, and you're certainly not going

17:41

to be honest with him about what really is

17:43

going on. But when you start

17:45

to know that not

17:47

just in your head, but experientially,

17:49

that here is a God who went to these

17:51

lengths we're about to experience, you know,

17:54

what happened on Palm Sunday and then

17:56

what happened in the garden and what happened

17:58

on Golgotha and what happened at

18:00

the tomb. That's the

18:02

lengths to which he went to tell

18:04

you. You're not in my way.

18:07

I want you with

18:09

me. When you when you get to that

18:11

point, you say, okay, even if I

18:13

feel this way today, I'm

18:15

going to believe that he is there. I'm going

18:17

to move toward him. And and that's

18:19

what you did through this

18:21

journey the last 20 years, right?

18:24

Yes, yes. And so here's what's

18:27

and there's so many amazing things about the Psalms,

18:29

but, um, one of them

18:31

is we don't have to wait

18:33

until we feel a certain feeling

18:36

before we go to our father. We

18:38

don't, because the Psalms are there.

18:40

They're there, and they're ready for

18:42

us. Um, we

18:45

don't have to wait till we feel

18:48

like praying or wait till we feel like

18:50

praising. You know, this is another whole

18:52

area, you know, we know God commands us

18:54

to praise him, and we're supposed to be praising

18:56

him, you know, every moment. And, you know,

18:59

sometimes we don't feel like praising him,

19:01

but we don't have to feel like it. We go

19:03

to the Psalms and we can begin

19:05

and just step into a Psalm and,

19:08

you know, and God does meet us there, and

19:10

he changes our feelings. And

19:12

so we come to him as we are. Chris.

19:15

However we are

19:17

take that step of

19:19

faith and step

19:22

into a Psalm. And

19:24

whether that entry point is lament,

19:27

whether that entry point is praise

19:29

and thanksgiving and joy, whether

19:31

it's confession for

19:34

for, you know, we need to confess

19:36

something to our father. What?

19:38

Whether it's boredom, whatever

19:41

it is, the Psalms, every

19:44

human emotion in every circumstance

19:46

is there, and

19:49

it's open to us. All

19:52

we have to do is, is start.

19:54

Take that step in. God's going

19:56

to meet us. He's going to meet us. In those words.

19:59

You you quote Jen,

20:01

who was a participant in one of your classes

20:04

after she had gone through,

20:06

uh, studying the Psalms, like you suggest.

20:09

And she said this when I marinate in

20:11

the Psalms, which is a great word when you think

20:13

about it. You know, when I marinate in the

20:15

Psalms, I'm just letting it then kind

20:17

of seeking them seep into my life.

20:19

My crusty exoskeleton

20:22

dissolves, exposing

20:24

the tender areas I have tried to protect

20:26

by my own means. The

20:28

sacrifice God wants from me is

20:30

to stop protecting my own heart,

20:33

but instead to put my broken,

20:35

bleeding heart into his hands,

20:38

to trust him, to hold it together,

20:40

to protect it, and to heal it. Coming

20:42

from a past where emotion, tears,

20:45

feelings were not validated but looked

20:47

down upon both in the church

20:49

group as well as my family. Psalm

20:51

5117 has been a tremendous

20:53

comfort. God does not despise

20:56

or look down on me if or

20:58

when I cry. He comes near

21:00

as I write into these psalms,

21:03

and if I will let him, he holds my

21:05

broken heart ever so gently.

21:08

And I have to say, as somebody who

21:10

was teaching others, you

21:13

probably felt like you were learning from her when

21:15

she wrote that.

21:17

Oh my goodness. I mean, it melted my

21:19

exoskeleton too. And

21:22

that's but that is that's my experience

21:24

as well. And I love she expressed it.

21:27

Um, she just expressed it so

21:29

beautifully. We have

21:32

created all of these walls

21:34

of, of fear,

21:36

of distrust.

21:38

And, um, God

21:41

really wants to break through

21:43

all of that and wants us to know

21:45

how near he is to us

21:47

and how much he he

21:49

loves. Us and cares for us. And

21:52

he's ready to rescue us. He's

21:54

ready to answer us when we call.

21:56

He is there. But

21:59

we've got we've got to take that step.

22:03

Leslie Leland Fields

22:05

is with us today at the back fence, nearing

22:07

a Father God. Praying the Psalms with their whole

22:09

selves is our featured resource.

22:11

You can see it at Chris Fabry live.org,

22:14

and there's an offer of a free audiobook

22:17

with the purchase of one of the books. So we have a link

22:19

there that will tell you exactly the the three

22:21

step process that you can take. Go

22:23

to Chris Fabry live. Org but

22:26

I want to jump into one of the Psalms

22:28

today, and maybe now is a good

22:30

time to talk about the acrostic on.

22:33

I've written it down on page 15.

22:35

You talk about nearing as

22:37

an acrostic and how we

22:39

step into the Psalms. Can you go through that

22:41

for me?

22:42

Yeah, yeah. So, um,

22:45

in the nearing acrostic N

22:47

is notate, which

22:49

means to write the psalm out

22:51

by hand. So pick up a pen and

22:53

it doesn't count. You can't do it on your computer

22:56

has to be a pen or and

22:58

to write it on paper. So just

23:00

that act of writing, you know, you're letting

23:02

God's Word move from your

23:04

eye to your brain, to your arm,

23:07

to your hand, to the page.

23:09

So you're writing out God's Word. And already

23:12

we are surpassing

23:14

what we normally do, which is just read

23:16

a psalm silently to ourselves.

23:19

Now it is moving through our body

23:21

and we are writing it onto the page. So that's notate

23:24

that E is

23:26

express. To use

23:28

your body, use your voice,

23:30

use gestures movement

23:33

to give expression to yourself.

23:35

These aren't in order.

23:37

Um, so expresses what we do at

23:39

the end when we've written into

23:42

the psalm and entered the psalm.

23:44

So when we're done, then we

23:46

would speak it out loud

23:49

and we would use whatever physical,

23:52

um, gestures or

23:54

postures we, we,

23:56

we that feel organic

23:58

to the expression of our Psalm.

24:01

So that's using right using

24:03

our body. The

24:05

A in nearing is amplify.

24:08

So all along the way in these

24:10

Psalms, there are these open

24:12

doors where I

24:14

think the psalmist is inviting us

24:16

to to amplify,

24:19

you know, Lord, where are you? I'm

24:21

surrounded by enemies. Well,

24:23

okay, maybe not. Maybe we're not surrounded by

24:25

enemies. Maybe I'm surrounded

24:28

by depression or I'm

24:31

surrounded by fear.

24:33

But we amplify, we step

24:35

into this, um, and write our own circumstances,

24:38

our own lament, our own praise,

24:41

our own thanksgiving. So that's

24:43

that's the a for amplify. Um,

24:46

are is read again. These

24:48

aren't in exactly the right order,

24:50

but are is read. Before

24:52

we write into the Psalm, we

24:54

want to make sure that we understand the

24:56

psalm. So you

24:59

might even read it in several versions.

25:01

But read the psalm through.

25:03

Understand and the Psalm

25:06

just as it is written I.

25:09

This is a really big one. Identify.

25:12

So personalize the psalm

25:15

to you or to your faith

25:17

community. So that means stick your

25:19

name in there, um,

25:21

and and make, make

25:24

that Psalm was written for you.

25:26

It's written for all God's people.

25:29

So you're making it you.

25:30

You're making it your own. I

25:32

love that. So we'll get the last two in the acrostic,

25:34

and then we'll go through this in a Psalm.

25:37

You might want to turn. Perhaps Psalm

25:39

23 will do that when we come back.

25:41

This is a great conversation with

25:43

Leslie Leland Fields nearing a

25:45

far God is our featured resource.

25:47

Find out more at Chris Fabry live

25:50

org. I'm

26:03

gonna tell you about Ashley. Here's a story

26:05

from Kearney's 40 day devotional, A lifeline

26:08

of Hope. Ashley didn't pay a

26:10

whole lot of attention to the abortion debate

26:12

that was raging all around her. She

26:14

had her whole life in front of her. She was

26:16

dating a cute guy, and he

26:18

wasn't marriage material, but he's a lot of

26:20

fun. That was enough. Until

26:24

she saw the blue line on her pregnancy

26:26

test, and that brought up a

26:28

whole lot of questions. How could she be

26:30

a mother right now? How could he

26:32

be a father? She'd waited

26:34

as long as she could to take the pregnancy test

26:37

because of the fear. Her

26:39

state had recently banned abortions after

26:41

six weeks. Was it too late? What

26:44

were her options now? If

26:47

you go to Chris for relive, dawg, there's a

26:49

green button that says Care Net.

26:51

Click that you'll see a welcome to

26:53

you and a way to receive that

26:56

free devotional, a lifeline

26:58

of Hope. You can read the rest of Ashley's

27:00

story. See how the pregnancy

27:02

decision line is part of their

27:04

Pro Abundant Life Ministry.

27:07

Click the green Carnet button today at

27:09

Chris Fabry live.org.

27:13

Leslie Leland Fields

27:15

is with us today. She's not in

27:17

Alaska. Don't worry. She's she's

27:19

in California because winter lasts

27:22

a long time. Where she lives. And

27:24

she's seeing little sunshine there in California.

27:26

Nearing a Far God is

27:28

a book that releases today praying

27:30

the Psalms with our whole selves.

27:33

And I mentioned that you can get the free audiobook

27:36

of it and you can find out how to do that.

27:38

Just click Chris Fabry Live or

27:40

click the link there that we have for

27:42

you and you find out about it. Um,

27:45

the nearing as

27:47

an acrostic. So you notate,

27:49

express, amplify, read

27:52

and identify. We'll get to the the Ng.

27:54

But I think that whole thing about slowing

27:57

down of writing

27:59

this out on paper, of

28:01

of letting it go through your eye,

28:03

into your brain all the way through your

28:05

arm, into your hand. Yeah,

28:08

of course you can. You know, you can type it if

28:10

you if you don't want to write it down. But

28:12

I think there's something about the tactile

28:15

feel of a pen on a piece of

28:17

paper that gets

28:19

it. And then you read it back

28:21

and you see, this is my handwriting

28:23

that wrote that it wasn't something that I

28:25

pushed used to be the typewriter

28:28

or now the keyboard. It's

28:30

something that I did on the paper.

28:33

There's something about that, Leslie.

28:35

There is indeed. And they, you know, neuroscientists

28:38

know that it uses

28:41

so much more of our brain. And of

28:43

course, it's using our body. And this

28:45

is this is what we're talking about attaching

28:48

to God with our whole

28:50

self. It's not enough

28:52

to connect to God with our

28:54

mind. It's not enough to know

28:57

God with our intellect. We

28:59

need to know him, pursue him,

29:01

love him with our whole

29:03

self. And so that's what the Nearing acrostic

29:06

is all about, is bringing all

29:08

of us, um, before the father.

29:11

And the more of ourselves that we

29:13

bring to our father, the more,

29:16

um, the more he

29:18

responds, the nearer we experience

29:21

him.

29:22

So we write it out, we notate it,

29:24

we express it. We use our voice gestures.

29:27

We amplify, we. We

29:29

respond to it. We we identify

29:31

in there. By amplifying

29:34

it, you mean we respond with whatever circumstances

29:36

we're going through. The kind of touches

29:38

the nerve. We read it.

29:40

And this is where other versions

29:43

come in, because I grew up with King James,

29:45

and then you read it in a different version, you see. Oh,

29:48

there's a different slant here with the words

29:50

chosen and the

29:53

that have been chosen to

29:55

what's the word I'm looking for? Uh, anyway,

29:57

I'll figure that out. We identify,

30:00

personalize the psalm, and then comes

30:02

the n g New

30:04

Testament fulfillment. What do you mean by that?

30:08

Well, so a lot of people

30:10

say, well, I you know, I don't like to spend too

30:12

much time in the Psalms because, um, you know,

30:14

Jesus isn't there or, you know,

30:16

where's Jesus? I just want to be in the Gospels,

30:18

or I just want to be in Paul's letters. And

30:21

the Psalms, of course, are this is this is

30:23

God's Word. And Jesus is all through there,

30:26

and the gospel

30:28

is all through there. So we

30:30

come to passages, for

30:32

instance, um, the confession Psalms,

30:35

you know, um, Psalm 51 and Psalm

30:37

32 where David is

30:39

confessing his sin and,

30:42

um, we.

30:45

It. There's there are some wonderful

30:47

spots in there to plug in

30:50

some New Testament verses about confession.

30:53

And first John one nine comes

30:55

to mind, right? If we confess our

30:57

sins, he is faithful and just to

30:59

forgive us our sins. So it's a

31:02

marvelous way to

31:04

to bring, um, the

31:06

Old and New Testament together, bringing New

31:08

Testament to, um, to

31:10

to amplify the, the,

31:13

the Psalms passages.

31:15

Our friend Michael Rudnick says that Psalms

31:17

is the hymn book of, of the Savior.

31:19

You know, it's the hymn book of that Jesus.

31:21

And when he's crying

31:24

from the cross, my God, my God,

31:26

why have you forsaken me? He

31:28

is reciting Psalm

31:30

22. You know, we we

31:33

all know that in our head. But this was

31:35

so much a part of Jesus

31:37

life that it just

31:39

came pouring from him when

31:41

he got into that situation. And

31:44

we're going to get to Psalm 23 here. Just a minute.

31:46

So we go to the New Testament fulfillment.

31:48

The G is gather. What does that mean?

31:51

And gather is is many

31:54

of the Psalms were written to be

31:56

sung and prayed in

31:58

community, in the temple,

32:01

in community. And

32:03

a lot of us, we have our devotions quietly

32:05

in our little prayer closet. But it's

32:07

amazing what happens. We know what happens

32:09

on Sunday morning when we gather and

32:11

we raise our voices together well,

32:14

when when we write

32:16

into the Psalms and then share our Psalms

32:18

with one another, um, it's

32:21

the same, um, dynamic

32:23

is at work where we, we

32:26

are just joined together as one

32:28

body, and it's powerful.

32:30

It is so powerful.

32:31

All right, let's go to most people know

32:34

Psalm 23. They've heard it.

32:36

Even people in the culture. It's like the

32:38

most famous piece of poetry

32:40

in all recorded literature.

32:42

So let's do

32:44

what you're telling us that we can

32:47

do with the Psalms. Would you

32:49

read that for us in

32:51

whatever you've got? NIV and I

32:53

know in the book I've got ESV,

32:56

uh, a lot of people memorize this

32:58

King James Version. So would

33:00

you read that and then walk us through what

33:02

you're talking about?

33:04

Yeah. Okay. So Psalm 23,

33:07

right. So, so beautiful.

33:09

And this is the NIV. But the Lord

33:12

is my shepherd,

33:14

I lack nothing. The

33:16

Lord is my shepherd. Lastly,

33:19

Shepherd lastly lacks

33:22

nothing. He.

33:24

And here I'm going to personalize

33:27

this. I'm going to make this direct address

33:29

to God you. This

33:32

is going to be to the Lord. You

33:34

make me lastly lie

33:37

down in green pastures.

33:40

And now I'm going to add a phrase,

33:42

because last night I

33:44

was out in a storm in

33:47

a skiff and and

33:49

he kept me safe. So you,

33:51

Lord, make me lie down

33:53

in green pastures. You saved

33:56

me from the storm last night.

33:58

You lead me beside

34:00

quiet waters. You

34:03

led my skiff home that

34:05

night. You refresh

34:08

my soul. Lord,

34:11

you guide me along the right

34:14

paths for your name's sake.

34:16

You led me to this

34:18

church. To

34:20

this community of God's people, which

34:22

has become my family. And

34:26

even though I lastly

34:28

am walking through the darkest,

34:31

hardest valley. Father,

34:35

I will fear no evil

34:37

because you are with me.

34:40

Lesslie. Every step.

34:43

Your rod and your staff and

34:45

your word. They comfort

34:48

me night and day,

34:50

even as I'm lying in my bed. Do you

34:52

hear what I'm doing? Um. Yes, Chris.

34:54

I'm amplifying it. I'm

34:56

stepping in. I'm using. These

34:59

words are so beautiful. And

35:01

they're inspired, but they're

35:03

not meant to be the last words

35:05

of praise. David's

35:08

Psalms and the Psalms are meant to be

35:10

the first words. They teach

35:13

us to pray. They don't steal

35:15

our words away. They

35:18

give us our own words

35:20

to pray from our heart

35:23

to our father's heart.

35:26

And and in doing that, I

35:28

want to hear about more about the skiff, though,

35:31

to be honest with you. But it was it. So

35:33

it was a really bad storm, would you? Because

35:35

you've been you've lived on the water almost

35:37

all your life. Why would you be scared

35:40

last night?

35:41

Yeah. Well, I'm saying last night as

35:44

as if I were writing this another time,

35:46

so.

35:46

Oh, okay.

35:47

When you were in Alaska. Right, right.

35:49

Okay. Gotcha. Yes, yes. Right.

35:51

Which is where I live. And so, um.

35:53

Yeah, I'm just referencing, you

35:55

know, that's what I would write. And in

35:57

fact, this chapter begins

36:00

with, with a story

36:02

of when I'm in the skiff

36:04

and it's night and it's dark and I'm

36:06

alone in the skiff and and

36:08

I've got to thread my

36:11

skiff through these two

36:13

rocks in the night.

36:15

And I am absolutely terrified.

36:18

And this is early on.

36:19

This is when you first were married

36:22

and didn't

36:24

know you'd signed up for this, right?

36:26

Exactly, exactly.

36:28

But, you know, as I'm in that skiff and I'm

36:30

trying to make my way

36:32

between the rocks without dying,

36:35

um, Psalm 23

36:37

came to me, and

36:40

the Lord came to me in that storm

36:43

and came to me, you know,

36:45

through the wind and the waves

36:47

and and in the boat. And

36:50

so we we can know

36:53

that he is with us and we can know

36:55

not just in our head, you know,

36:57

know with our body and,

36:59

and and so that's what writing into

37:02

the Psalms and bringing our

37:04

whole self, bringing our memory,

37:06

bringing our experience,

37:09

bringing our own language

37:11

and voice and story into

37:14

the Psalms. Um,

37:16

that that's that's a profound

37:18

prayer. And, and that's what God wants

37:20

us to do.

37:21

He it's really helpful to hear because

37:24

the other aspect of that is

37:27

what you mentioned, the skiff. And

37:29

I remember reading that story and you

37:31

got a lot of harrowing, you know, fishing

37:33

stories with you and your kids and your husband

37:35

through the years. But there is

37:37

a thing that you point out that

37:40

neuroscientists say that we

37:42

can block out the

37:44

trauma in our lives. We can

37:46

create different neural pathways

37:48

so that we don't think about those, you know,

37:50

those hard things, the triggers

37:52

that we have. But you're saying

37:54

that God is big enough to slip in

37:57

to the cracks of of the pain

37:59

and the wounds that we have

38:01

to give us help and

38:03

and not just to not think about that anymore.

38:07

Exactly. That's that's exactly what

38:09

he wants to do, Chris. And that's what

38:11

the Lament Psalms are all about.

38:13

Right? And we're opening up those

38:15

places of deep pain.

38:17

And it might be something we're

38:19

in the midst of in the moment. It

38:22

might be something that happened 40 years

38:24

ago. Um, but we do. We

38:26

wall it off, and when we

38:28

wall it off to protect ourselves. But what

38:30

happens is we're also walling it off

38:32

from God. We're walling it

38:34

off from his his love,

38:37

from his healing, from

38:39

his forgiveness, from

38:41

his, his everything that

38:43

his his rescue from his

38:45

redemption. And,

38:48

um. Yeah, we need to bring all of that

38:50

to him.

38:52

It. God's word is sharp and powerful,

38:55

you know, dividing the

38:57

spirit and and the soul.

38:59

And it is doing exactly

39:02

that. My guess is there's somebody listening

39:04

here today who needs

39:06

to not just know, you know,

39:08

to have the knowledge that the Lord is

39:10

my shepherd, that he is, that you

39:12

can experience that today. Maybe

39:15

a mom or dad who's going through a really

39:17

difficult time with a son

39:19

or daughter and whatever

39:21

that situation is, is

39:24

does he really hear me? Is

39:26

he hearing the heart cry that I have

39:28

and the fear that I have about

39:30

my child and what they are going

39:32

through, and what kind of comfort

39:35

and compassion will he give me

39:37

when he feels so far

39:40

away? He's not nearing

39:42

a far God. Leslie Leland

39:44

Fields is our guest today. Find out more

39:46

at Chris Fabry Live org.

39:58

Leslie Leland Fields has written,

40:00

nearing a far God praying the Psalms

40:03

with their whole selves. If

40:05

you go to Krispy relive. Org, we

40:07

have a link right there that says how to receive

40:10

a free audiobook of

40:12

nearing a Far God. So if you buy the e-book

40:14

or the softcover

40:16

copy of the book, there's a way

40:18

to get a free audiobook, which

40:20

I love. I love to do

40:22

both at the same time, to

40:25

listen to the book from the author's

40:27

heart slash lips

40:29

to my ears, as well as reading

40:31

it. And you can do that

40:33

again. We have a link right there. Chris Fabry

40:35

live org. In

40:38

our remaining moments, I really want to talk about

40:40

lament because this is

40:42

there are a lot of people going through a lot of hard stuff

40:44

today. Leslie. So why

40:47

is this so important?

40:50

Oh my goodness. Um, yeah,

40:52

there's just a lot of pain out there. Um,

40:55

in the world, in our own lives

40:58

and our own neighborhoods. And

41:00

what are we going to do with this pain? We

41:03

we try all kinds of things to get

41:05

rid of this pain, and it doesn't go

41:07

away. So let's try something new.

41:10

Let's try bringing it to our father.

41:12

And there's something amazing

41:15

that happens when we do that,

41:17

that and we can talk about,

41:20

you know, all the Psalms do this, but

41:22

the lament Psalms in particular, they

41:25

they start right where we

41:27

are the moment that

41:29

we're in. I'm looking at Psalm

41:31

six, and David is writing. I'm

41:33

worn out from sobbing all

41:35

night. I flood my bed with

41:37

weeping, drenching it with my

41:40

tears. Now can you see that happening?

41:42

Right. We see that happening. And you know

41:44

what happens in this Psalm. So imagine

41:46

he is writing this Psalm and

41:49

and the next verse he

41:51

says, go away,

41:53

all you who do evil. For the

41:55

Lord has heard my weeping. The

41:58

Lord has heard my plea.

42:00

The Lord will answer

42:02

my prayer within

42:04

a few sentences. He

42:06

has gone from pouring out

42:09

tears from his eyes

42:11

to this moment of, oh,

42:14

the Lord has heard me, I know

42:16

he's heard me. I know he

42:18

will answer my prayer. And

42:20

there's so many psalms that do this that they

42:22

begin and lament in the

42:24

pain of the moment, and

42:26

they create this verbal

42:29

bridge that work

42:31

that that word by word brings

42:33

us, lifts us up to the throne

42:36

of God. Our reality of

42:39

pain and hurt and wounding

42:41

is not the only reality. There's

42:43

a bigger reality, a better reality,

42:45

and that is that we have

42:48

a father who

42:50

is who loves us so

42:52

much he gave himself for

42:54

us. And he is

42:56

ready to hear us and rescue

42:58

us. He he

43:01

just wants to be with us, Chris.

43:03

That's what all this is about. We're about to enter

43:06

into Easter. But the whole

43:08

point of Jesus on the cross

43:10

and and and rising

43:13

up to new life is so

43:15

that this father of ours

43:17

can. He wants to dwell with his children.

43:20

That's us. He wants to dwell

43:22

with us. And he especially

43:24

wants to dwell with us through

43:26

our hardest, hardest

43:28

and most painful moments.

43:30

Just a few verses before that, he

43:32

says, my bones are troubled. Be

43:35

gracious to me, O Lord, for I'm languishing.

43:37

Heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled,

43:40

and I have a devotional

43:42

psalter that I read through, and

43:44

I. I just underline and

43:46

take notes. And on that one there

43:48

was a friend of mine that was going through

43:50

a situation with cancer, and

43:52

it had gone. They thought

43:54

it had gone to his bones at that point. And

43:57

in 2022. And so

43:59

I can see and in the devotion

44:01

with that, says David, does not

44:03

apply a formula to his pain,

44:06

but rather this God,

44:09

you do not need a formula,

44:12

you need him. And that's

44:14

what all of these psalms lead us to

44:16

write.

44:17

They do. And here's

44:19

the thing I can. We don't have

44:21

to wait until we feel

44:23

like lamenting or feel

44:26

like praising, or just go to the

44:28

Psalms just as

44:30

you are right now. Step

44:32

into that Psalm. And I'm asking people

44:35

to step in whole person,

44:37

whole person, not just, you know, if if

44:39

you just want to read it slightly, that's fine.

44:41

But I think the invitation is for more

44:43

and for deeper. But, um,

44:46

but step in and

44:48

and God's going to meet you right where you are.

44:51

And you know what? He's not going to leave you where you are.

44:53

He's going to he's going to bring you to his throne.

44:56

He's going to bring you to a place of safety.

44:58

He's going to bring you to green pastures.

45:00

He's going to bring you into his

45:03

his love and

45:05

his presence. And that's

45:08

what changes everything right

45:10

there, the presence of God with

45:12

us.

45:13

And if you think that he's very

45:15

far away or you feel that he is

45:17

very far away, that

45:19

may be the entrance

45:22

of your heart, drawing

45:24

near to a God who is

45:26

nearer than you can ever imagine.

45:29

Uh, just the just the acknowledgement

45:31

God you feel. I feel like you're far away

45:33

today, and I want I want

45:35

you to be near me. I love

45:37

because what you just said, it builds

45:39

a verbal bridge, basically

45:42

to the heart of God by doing

45:44

this. And there's. We just scratched

45:47

the surface, Leslie. It's it's a fantastic

45:50

help. You know, you you are

45:52

vulnerable. You even are vulnerable enough

45:54

to tell us that you lied in order to get

45:56

in, to see the movie The Ten Commandments, which

45:59

I think is irony.

46:00

True story. Yes. When

46:02

you were 11.

46:03

Years old, she only had $1. So she

46:05

said she was 11, even though she was 12. Okay,

46:08

so nearing a far God praying

46:10

the Psalms with our whole cells.

46:12

It's our featured resource. We have a link to

46:14

it at Chris Fabry Live. Org and

46:16

Leslie, for another month or so,

46:18

is offering a free audiobook.

46:20

If you get a copy of the

46:23

the softcover, ebook or the

46:25

e-book. So you can find out more about that.

46:27

Click the How to Receive free audiobook

46:29

Chris Fabry live. Org.

46:31

Leslie. God bless you friend. Thanks for being

46:33

with us today.

46:35

Oh, thanks so much for having me, Chris.

46:37

We're going to talk about the gift of limitations

46:39

tomorrow at the back fence. Hope you can be here for

46:42

Chris Fabry live or production of Moody Radio,

46:44

a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.