The Book of Daniel: The Beast Within

Pastor Fletcher preaches from Daniel 4 about King Nebuchadnezzar being humbled by God. Discussion points: Christians follow God by practicing righteousness and showing mercy to the oppressed, Nebuchadnezzar’s outward appearance matched his character when he became like a beast, we can look for places in our lives that need humility and more dependence on God.

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  Scripture reader: [Daniel 4:28-37] All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of the 12 months, he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. And the king answered and said, "Is not this great Babylon which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?" While the words were still in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven. "O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken. The kingdom has departed from you and you shall be driven from among men and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field and you shall be made to eat grass like an ox. And seven periods of time shall pass over you until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will."

  Immediately, the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles feathers and his nails were like birds claws. At the end of the days, I Nebuchadnezzar lifted my eyes to heaven. And my reason returned to me and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored him who lives for ever. For his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing. And he does according to his will, among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his hand or say to him, what have you done?

  At the same time, my reason returned to me and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me. My counselors and my lords sought me and I was established in my kingdom and still more greatness was added to me. Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the king of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just, and those who walk in pride, he is able to humble.

  This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

  Preacher: So we're going through a series on the book of Daniel. And we're in chapter four. This week, I was going to do chapter four and chapter five together. But it was like one of those moments about halfway through sermon prep where I was just like we just got to camp out in chapter four. Chapter five is great. We're going to take a break for the next four weeks and do advent a series talking about advent. We'll have one sermon that's kind of outside of that, that series. And then we'll have a Christmas Eve service here also on December 24th. But, for the next and then we'll go back to Daniel in January. So we're gonna be skipping and, but it will be a great time to go back to Daniel. A lot of the same themes will be going through.

  Let me just start with this question. Why is it that so often we see people who, and this really breaks my heart. People who did used to follow the Lord and we're Christians and then they stopped going to church and they stopped practicing Christianity. And for some reason, they like seem happier. Have you ever met anyone like this that, you know, maybe, maybe we have like for me, I have lots of neighbors and friends who aren't Christians don't go to church. They seem perfectly happy.

  And why is that like, why is it that, that we have committed so much of our life to coming to church, to being a part of a community, to following the Lord, to denying ourselves and serving others and yet other people who might not have the same values that we say are good and will bring happiness to my life. But they might not have the same values. But yet they, they also seem happy. Like what are we doing all of this for if we can have happiness outside of this. Do you know how much skiing I could do if I wasn't committed to being at church every week and giving away 10% of my income? Like, do you know how much I could do with that? It would be great in some ways. Vacation home. Here we go.

  Think of all that you could achieve at work if you didn't have this principle of others before myself. If you didn't have this principle of, I had to deny myself and lift others up or if you didn't have this principle that hey, rest is a requirement for me as a believer and God worked for six days and rested for one. So therefore, I'm gonna take a day off every week. You know, there are other people at your jobs who don't do that and maybe they're getting ahead of you and you feel that and you feel the loss and you think only if I could work a little bit more, I could get that promotion, I could be happy like they are.

  Think about how much easier life would be. If instead of having to forgive people, you could just cut them out of your life, right? You could just say yep, done. OK. Don't have to worry about forgiveness, but Christ compels us to forgive our enemies to love them. In fact, not just forgive them being a Christian is difficult and there are lots of people who don't follow the Lord who seem happy, do they not?

  And this is actually where we find King Nebuchadnezzar this week. King Nebuchadnezzar had it all; dude was rich, dude had everything that he could imagine. We'll go into the details on that. We just know from history. Nebuchadnezzar was a famous guy, had a lot of wealth, had a lot of things. He seemed happy, he was living the dream. He was just kind of like reminiscing over all the dream. And in that instant, he lost his mind and he went crazy for seven days walking around like a on all fours like a cow out in the field. That's wild.

  And what was the purpose of all that? He seemed happy. He could have just died there happy. But yet God saw it fit to return his reason and to help him to see how he had been living. Let's just dive into the passage as we see that Nebuchadnezzar he had all that life could offer. But yet it still was not enough. It still was not enough. All right, we're going to dive in the way that we do this. Normally here is we just work through the passage. I'll read several of the verses and then we'll talk about it as we go through.

  Verse one, King Nebuchadnezzar to all peoples nations and languages that dwell in all the earth. Peace be multiplied to you. It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the most high God has done for me. How great are His signs? How mighty his wonders, His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. And his dominion endures from generation to generation. Now, wait a second. OK. Let's just if you've been reading this book, you know that something weird is happening right now because as we've been going through Daniel, first of all, Daniel is being spoken, there's a narrator in Daniel. Ok. The narrator is telling us the story of this entire book and it's like a third perspective on it. The bird's eye view telling us what's happening.

  Now we start chapter four with no real introduction. Other than it's like Nebuchadnezzar is looking at the camera and speaking to us, OK, we, we're having a perspective shift and Nebuchadnezzar is like, now you get to hear my story. This is like a very artsy move that the author of Daniel is doing. This is like a movie that you would go to see at the Somerville theater. OK? It's like an independent flick. It's half in English half in something else. You know, it's like you don't know what's happening. The subtitles are going on. Daniel has written half in Hebrew, half in Aramaic, very artistic. And now we have all of a sudden chapter four, no introduction, a change in perspective.

  And we have Nebuchadnezzar the kind of the villain through most of the book. And he's like, now you get to hear my story. And for some reason, he starts his story with saying peace be multiplied to you. And I'm like, weren't you the one threatening to pull people apart limb by limb like a Wookie? And now you're saying peace be multiplied to me. I don't understand. We're about to get the rest of his story. This is a self told story, like an open letter of a man who had it all who lost his ever loving mind, just completely lost it and then was restored to sanity and to right relationship with God.

  Verse four, I Nebuchadnezzar was at ease in my house and prospering in my palace. Isn't that the dream? Isn't that what you want? This Thanksgiving at ease in your house and prospering in your palace with the TV. On watching some Dallas cowboys lose another game. Yet again. Verse five, I saw a dream that made me afraid as I lay in the bed, the fancies and the visions of my dream in my head alarmed me. Now, if you remember Nebuchadnezzar has had dreams before. If we go back to chapter two, we see that he had this dream that he was that of the statue. And the statue had this rock that fell from heaven and it tumbled the statue and then it grew into a, a mountain that filled the entire earth representing the kingdom of God trampling over all the kingdoms of man.

  And so now we have Nebuchadnezzar dreaming again. And so he is sensitive to dreams and he's like, I gotta figure out what's going on with this dream. And so if you'll remember from the last time, what did he do? He went and he called all the magicians and all of the people, the the leaders and the wise people throughout all of Babylon. He told them, he didn't actually tell them to dream. He said, you need to tell me the dream and tell me the interpretation. This time, Nebuchadnezzar remembers his dream. So he's willing to tell them his dream and but if you remember none of them could do it. But who could? Daniel, right? So Daniel comes and interpret and tells the king his dream and interprets it for him.

  So obviously, this time, the king, he's not gonna go to all those schmucks who don't know what the dream is or the meaning of it. He's just gonna go straight to Daniel right wrong. He goes right back to the schmucks and he's like, no, you guys interpret my dream for me. And as he tells them the dream, they don't have an interpretation for him. So he does end up turning to Daniel. And when Daniel walks in, it's as if he doesn't know Daniel. OK? Because Daniel walks in Nebuchadnezzar. Last chapter we saw Nebuchadnezzar see the fourth man in the fire and let Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego out of the fiery furnace and it's like he, and then he declared, OK, the God of, of the Israelites is ok to worship anyone worshiping him is OK.

  But now we see him bringing Daniel in and what does he actually say? But he actually like, kind of gets a lot of things wrong here. He doesn't know who God is. He calls Daniel the chief of the magicians. That's not it. Come on, man. And he says, I know that you are filled with the who the spirit of the Gods. How offensive if you're Daniel, this is like when your boss's boss that you've been working with for like your entire career calls you in and gets your job title completely wrong. Doesn't know what you do at the company whatsoever. That's Nebuchadnezzar. He's just brainless. He's like, I don't know, you're a monkey that's supposed to interpret my dream. Now, dream monkey interpret this for me.

  And so Daniel, he has grace for him. And and Nebuchadnezzar tells him his dream and this is what the dream is. Ok. It's a weird dream. Go with me as we, as we talk through this dream as dreams are OK. Has anybody ever shared a dream with you at the end of it? You're almost always like, well, that was cool. All right. Next like, what do we talk about now? That's weird. So the dream is this that he dreamed of a giant tree reaching all the way into the heavens, the tree huge. It had great branches that offered shade for all the world. The fruit from its branches were growing out. It was an illustrious tree providing shelter for birds and animals. Not just as a tree, it's the centerpiece of the entire world.

  But then something unsettling happens. A messenger comes from heaven. And what does the messenger do? He chops down, he, he comes down and he commands that the tree is chopped down, its branches are stripped, its leaves are scattered, its fruit is destroyed. Only a stump is left behind and the stump is bound in iron and bronze. And then the messenger says that the, the tree and the stump represent a person and that this person will lose their mind and live like a wild animal and eat grass like an ox in the field for seven periods of time which we interpret to be seven years that they'll be completely humiliated.

  And the messenger ends the dream like this by telling the moral of the dream. The messenger says this is what you should learn and this is what everyone should learn from your dream. Nebuchadnezzar that the most high rules the kingdom of men and gives to it whom he will and sets over it, the lowliest of men. Well, it doesn't seem like there needs to be a lot of interpretation to get the point of this dream. But yet Nebuchadnezzar still calls on Daniel to interpret the dream. And as Daniel receives the dream, he starts to look a little bit nervous and he's like, I don't know if I want to tell you what this dream means, Nebby. Ok, you have a tendency to, to Wookie-fy some people around here.

  And Nebuchadnezzar is like, no, hit me with it. I, I need to hear the meaning of the dream. So Daniel says, well, I wish this dream was about your enemies and not about you because this is what it's about. You. Nebuchadnezzar. You are the tree. Your kingdom has been established all the way to the heavens. You rule over the known world, Nebuchadnezzar. You are offering shade and, and fruit for all of those under your kingdom. But your kingdom is about to fall. You are about to be chopped down but you're not without hope because they will leave a stump and the stump will be bound. But you Nebuchadnezzar, you will live like that wild animal for seven periods of a time so that you can get the lesson that the most high rules the kingdom of man that he does as he wishes and the lowly will be made great. That is the meaning of your dream, Nebuchadnezzar.

  And so he, he ends it with this encouragement. Therefore, verse 27. Therefore, o king let my counsel be acceptable to you break off your sins by practicing righteousness and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed that there may be perhaps a lengthening of your prosperity. Quick sidebar here. OK. We're, we're just gonna just take one second step out of the story. I just want to talk about this first for one second. There's a direct connection all over the Bible, not just in this verse, but all over the Bible with following God. And these two things practicing righteousness and showing mercy to the oppressed.

  Why is it that almost every Christian only gets half the formula? We either practice righteousness, personal morality or we're willing to show mercy to the oppressed. But as people who follow God, you have to have both, you can't have one or the other, you have to have both. It requires both care for the oppressed and personal morality. Back to the story. OK. Sidebar over, all right. A year later, nothing happens after that. Nebuchadnezzar is like, OK, thanks Daniel. See you later. OK? He doesn't change his life. He doesn't do anything.

  A year later, Nebuchadnezzar is living it up. He is walking on the roof of his palace. Doesn't that sound nice? You know, walking on the roof of your palace and he looks out and this is what he says. He's, he's reflecting on his life. He's near the end. He's getting older, his career, you know, is established. He's hitting retirement age and this is what he said.

  Verse 30. It's not this great Babylon which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my Majesty? He's looking at his life and he's living the dream. He's living your dream, should I say. He has everything. He's created this large empire, he's conquered kingdoms. He's built an outer wall to Babylon. Now, this is crazy. The outer wall of Babylon. Babylon, when Nebuchadnezzar was started, a lot of this is from stuff that we know outside of the Bible also because Nebuchadnezzar is a well known historical figure that Babylon had a wall when he became king. Nebuchadnezzar wasn't happy with one wall. He wanted to make Babylon Impenetrable. So what did he do? He built a moat outside the wall and he said that's not enough. I'm gonna build another wall outside of that and I'm gonna make them pay. No, not really. And then I'm gonna build the other wall here and it's gonna be wide enough for a chariot race to occur on top of the outer wall.

  He has built himself an Impenetrable fortress. Not only that, but he's paved the pro processional way with limestone, a beautiful road leading all the way through. He's cut canals. Imagine the type of infrastructure require the demand of the king and the riches that a nation must have to cut canals so that agriculture and trade could be bolstered. He's built a house. I love the name of his house. Ok. He, he built a house that's known within history that the name of his house is the marvel of mankind. What a palace that he's built for himself.

  And then he went and married a woman and her name. Well, she was a Median princess named Amytis of Media and she was from the land of Media. I'm not sure where that is. I should have looked that up. But who, but in her land it had green mountains that were growing. And in Media, she wanted to have that where she was in Babylon now. So what did Nebuchadnezzar do? But he bought the property next door or he just bulldozed it one. He probably doesn't have to buy much and he built the hanging gardens of Ban, which is one of the seven wonders of the world. It, it was supposed to be a architectural masterpiece. They had to figure out how to get the water up the, up the hill and to make this beautiful garden. That's how powerful he was where he was able just to build one of the seven marvels of the, of the world for his bride.

  Now, you don't have to look far to find a modern equivalent to a Nebuchadnezzar who are the most powerful in our society. But the tech billionaires of Silicon Valley, right? You, you look at an Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, they're able to build their co their empire by acquiring other country, other companies and they're able to displace the leaders and move them around like pawns in their game. They're able to build the great headquarters for their for their tech company and they're able to build themselves a palace.

  Imagine what that kind of wealth might be able to provide for you in a Somerville Massachusetts. You could buy a single family home with more than one bathroom. Oh, they say you can't buy happiness. With three children, that would be happiness. But not only that you could buy the house next door. And if you say your spouse is from Vermont, just convert it to a log cabin, make them fill it home, fill it up with maple syrup, you know, and cheeses and white people wearing flannel. It'll be like they're right there.

  You know, maybe your ambitions aren't quite so high. Maybe you're happy with your, you know, apartment. Maybe you just want to make a little bit more money, buy a condo one day, maybe invest in some backyard landscaping. No, not necessarily the hanging tower, the hanging gardens of Somerville. You might not be trying to conquer the world, but the same temptations remain. Do they not whether it's the corner office or the cozy backyard? It's easy to think a little more, a little higher on the ORG chart. And finally, I'll have enough. And then when you're an old man or an old woman, you can take a step back from your life's work and to see all that you've accomplished and feel good about it. You know, I lived a good life. I have a good family I've provided for them. I've done everything. Is not life great. Look at all that I've built.

  That's the dream, is it not? That's exactly where Nebuchadnezzar finds himself. There's nothing wrong with that dream and to some extent. But then he's walking along his roof, enjoying his life's work and a voice from heaven falls on him and he hears this from God, verse 31. While the words were still in the king's mouth. How great is Babylon that I've built for my power and my glory. There fell a voice from heaven. O King Nebuchadnezzar to you it is spoken. The kingdom has departed from you and you shall be driven from among men and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field and you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.

  At that moment, Nebuchadnezzar loses his mind. He goes insane. He starts acting like a cow out in the field. Look verse 33, Immediately, the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles feathers and his nails were like birds claws. Now he just stopped cutting his fingernails and he grew out his hair and he acted like a cow.

  There, there are modern times that this has happened. I did a little bit of research during COVID. There was a woman who due to loneliness and, and other things, she had a psychotic break. She started acting like a dog, including like eating dog food and barking and not speaking and walking on all fours and doing her business like a dog and everything that goes with that, it's called the, the medical term for it is zoanthropy. I believe zoo zoanthropy, I don't know, not, not a physician. And it's a rare delusional disorder where a person believes that he or she is an animal.

  And so for Nebuchadnezzar, he ate grass, walked on four legs and grew out his hair. He acted like a cow for seven years. Could you imagine that the most powerful person in the world acting like an animal for seven whole years? And during this time, his inner character was exposed and Nebuchadnezzar, he may have been a powerful man, but deep down in his heart, it was exposed to him that he was a beast. You see his outer behavior start to reflect his inner quality of character.

  I love the way that Tim Mackey from the Bible project puts this. He said it like this. I should have it on the screen for you. Oh, there it is good. Nebuchadnezzar refuses to humble himself. So as humanity is removed from him, only after he humbles himself before God is his humanity restored, humans were made to be the royal image of God to rule on God's behalf. But when humans rebel and make themselves God, they become less than human, like violent beasts who will face God's justice.

  As a child of the nineties, my mind is only going to one story and that is beauty and the beast. Ok. So I you we we've all familiar with the story of the, the prince, the arrogant prince who is just a beast on the inside, powerful on the outside but arrogant and he's this terrible and he is transformed literally into a terrible beast until he learns the ability to love selflessly. His external appearance is made to match his internal character.

  And that's essentially what happened to Nebuchadnezzar without the talking teapot. He, he didn't necessarily become literally a beast, but he grew out his hair like a beast. He stopped cutting his fingernails. He started acting like a beast in the field, no physical metamorphosis, but essentially the same as humanity is removed until he's willing to acknowledge God as true king of kings. The first and primary thing that we need before we can come to God that Nebuchadnezzar learned is an accurate view of self. Who am I really? And why do I need God? No one will go to God unless they see their need for him.

  And so the first thing we need is to be brought to a place of humility. You see, Nebuchadnezzar had it all. He did not see his need for God, but then God revealed to him the inner quality of his character. And all of a sudden it took a while, but he did eventually learn that he needs God. After this seven year period, Nebuchadnezzar lifts his eyes to heaven and I love the way it says this. It is the best thing. I my heart's being renewed today. As I think about this, he lifts his eyes to heaven and it says that his reason returned.

  I wonder how many of us need to have our reason returned to us. How many of us have been living according to the, the beast within instead of the God of heaven, living for ourselves, self consumed, whatever it might mean. And we think that it looks reasonable. That is the essence of sin. Is it not sin, is to convince yourself that you can define what is right and wrong apart from what God defines as right and wrong. And so we live this life and we think we're living reasonably. But then Nebuchadnezzar, eventually, he raised his eyes to heaven and his reason returned.

  And that's my prayer for all of us today that we might have a moment where we lift our eyes to heaven and allow our reason to return his reason returned and then he reflects on it. In verse 37 he says, now I Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the king of heaven for all his works are right and his ways are just and those who walk in pride, he is able to humble. What a great lesson he's able to learn. What lessons did we learn here as we go through.

  The voice that fell from heaven during Nebuchadnezzar's dream had three things that he wanted Nebuchadnezzar to learn. I think they're great things for us to reflect on. First, the Most High rules the kingdoms of men. Second, he does as he pleases, he gives to whom he will. And third, God sets over the world the lowliest of men. That's what the angel said as he brought the message down.

  So I return to, to the first question that we asked at the beginning of the message. Why is it that people so often seem happier without God? It's not an easy question to answer and I can't answer it holistically. But I do know this from Nebuchadnezzar that God gives to whom He will. That that is God's decision and it's not my decision, it's his world. And we also know that just because people seem happier, doesn't actually mean that they are happier. Some sometimes people seem happier and they're miserable on the inside. That wasn't the case with Nebuchadnezzar. It didn't seem though, it seemed like he truly was content with what he had.

  And so sometimes people do seem happier without God. And I had a friend pose this question to me the other day. And I was like, yeah, why is it help me? And it was another pastor and, and he said, well, yeah, it seems that way and it is that way until you look down the infinite tunnel that we call eternity. And at that moment, it was like, I just like the camera zoomed out and I was just like, what? Yeah, like there's more to life than right here. Once I start looking down that tunnel and I'm like, there's so much more, there's no way I could be content with what's right here because what's right here isn't forever. It's all gonna go away. It's a lie from the evil one that says you can be happy right now. Just don't worry about the future. Don't look down that tunnel.

  That's the message. The greatest gift that God gave to Nebuchadnezzar. It wasn't the hanging gardens of Babylon. It wasn't all the powerful nations that he conquered. It wasn't the, the what did, what did we call it? The what was this house called? The Marvel of mankind? Wow. What a name? The greatest gift that God gave to Nebuchadnezzar was a seven year period of insanity. A seven year period of insanity. It showed him that he needed. God. It changed his whole perspective of this material wealth and the kingdom that He ruled over.

  Sometimes the greatest gift that God can give you is a humbling experience where you're reminded that you need God. Are you living a self consumed, self sufficient life? I know most of you and I know the answer is mostly no, I'm trying to follow after Christ. But yeah, there's part of me that I'm still putting to death that I'm still working through, humble yourself or God will humble you. Hopefully, that humility will occur in this life and not the next or maybe you're just barely holding it together if you're here today and you're barely holding it together so glad that you're making it. And, and maybe he's been humbled recently.

  I have a friend that I like to say is one of Jesus' favorite people that Jesus just loves him too much because he's constantly humbled. It's like humbling experience after humbling experience. And I'm like, yeah, I'm sorry, like Jesus just loves you too much to let you not go through humility and God might be being persistent with you. Don't see it as a mark of his displeasure, but see it as a pursuit of you.

  And the last thing that we learn from this though and I love the way it says it. The, the messenger said, God sets over the world the lowliest of men, humble will inherit the earth is what he's saying. And who is the lowliest of all men, but the one who's self described as gentle and lowly of heart, Jesus of Nazareth who came not through a processional way paved with limestone but came humbly to a virgin born in a manger, laid in a feeding trough.

  Jesus is described in Philippians two as someone who is God himself, yet he did not see equality with God as something to be taken advantage of. Instead, Jesus chose to take the form of a servant born as a weak and limited human, humbled to the point of death, even death. On the most agonizing and humiliating means possible crucifixion. But as a result, God exalted him and bestowed on him. The name that is above all names, the name that is above Nebuchadnezzar, the name that is above Bezos and Zuckerberg and Musk. The name that all other names will bow down to, the name of Jesus. Every name will bow, every knee will bow in heaven and earth and under the earth and every tongue will declare that Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father, Amen.

  Friends, today, will you humble yourself? I think the message is the same. Will you humble yourself? And as Christians, we just need need to be reminded of this. Our reason must return to us once again, our reason has to constantly return. I don't know how you humble yourself. I don't know where you're showing pride in your life. You have to take that and say where am I living self consumed or self sufficiently? And where must I humble myself? Where have I said no to allowing God to be a part of my life? Whether that's hey, I just wanna live this Christian life by myself with no one else involved in it. And God says I want to use community to build something in your life.

  Or maybe you're just trying to pursue your job through your own means. You have this divorce, sacred/secular thing in your mind where you have, you know, I do my job. That's for me. And then I go to church on Sunday and that's for God. God doesn't he? He wants to bring you low in everything. But you're a Christian all the way through, through every part of your week, every part of your day. When you trust in Christ as your messiah, as your one and only God. He shares this with you. He shares not just salvation, but he shares that name with you. You know what the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue will declare that He is Lord.

  But at the end, we're invited to sit on the throne with him. We're invited to be a part of who he is. We're invited to enjoy relationship with the king of kings. We have so much more in the heavenly realm than the billionaires have today. And so I, I just want to take a moment, I'm gonna read a passage and then we're gonna pray and this is a passage from the New Testament. And, I just want you to be sensitive to the spirit's nudge in your life. Whether you've trusted Christ for the first time or you're wandering, you're wanting to trust him again, surrendering part of your life that you've been holding back, letting your reason return whatever it might look like. Maybe you need to pray for a friend that you just see living as a beast in the field though, they don't recognize it. We'll have some people to pray for you and pray with you back there.

  But let me, let me read this passage and then I'll pray for us. James chapter four, but he gives more grace. Therefore, it says God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners and purify your hearts, you double minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom, humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.

  Let's pray. Father, we come to you with hearts that are so often full of pride. Teach us to humble ourselves before you. Let us not rely on our strength or our achievements, but on the grace of Christ. Help us to see true greatness is found in surrendering to you, the king of kings. We long to draw near to you, God, knowing that as we do, you will draw near to us. Thank you for your promise to lift us up in due time. We trust you with our lives and our futures. In Christ's name. Amen.