Pastor Taylor Ford | August 30th, 2026
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:23-24
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Three Daring Prayers that will strengthen your faith and increase your influence:
1. Search me and know me.
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You know me
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You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
Psalm 139:1-6
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You know me —> You are with me
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Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
Psalm 139:7-12
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You know me —> You are with me ——> You made me
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For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you.
Psalm 139:13-18
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You know me —> You are with me ——> You made me ——> You search me _______________________________
If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty! They speak of you with evil intent;your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. Search me, God, and know my heart…
Psalm 139:19-23
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Three Daring Prayers that will strengthen your faith and increase your influence:
2. Test me
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Test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Psalm 139:23
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David’s life was full of tests:
· The test of obscurity
· The test of opposition
· The test of success
· The test of rejection
· The test of waiting
· The test of revenge
· The test of failure
· The test of consequences and family pain
· The test of grief
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Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
James 1:3-4
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Some encouragement about the “testing” times of life:
1. God does not trick us… but he does REFINE us through testing.
2. Don’t waste the test … In the tests of life we should not try and manipulate circumstances, or cheapen the process, but rather double down on our trust in God and his timing.
3. Trust God’s heart even when you don’t see his hand.
4. Stay faithful in the ordinary
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Three Daring Prayers that will strengthen your faith and increase your influence:
3. Lead me
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Lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139
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The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake…
Psalm 23
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Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6
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John Wesley’s Personal Questions of Reflection
1. Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I am better than I really am? In other words, am I a hypocrite?
2. Am I honest in all my acts and words, or do I exaggerate?
3. Do I confidentially pass on to another what was told to me in confidence?
4. Can I be trusted?
5. Am I a slave to dress, friends, work, or habits?
6. Am I self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying?
7. Did the Bible live in me today?
8. Do I give it time to speak to me everyday?
9. Am I enjoying prayer?
10. When did I last speak to someone else about my faith?
11. Do I pray about the money I spend?
12. Do I get to bed on time and get up on time?
13. Do I disobey God in anything?
14. Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?
15. Am I defeated in any part of my life?
16. Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy, or distrustful?
17. How do I spend my spare time?
18. Am I proud?
19. Do I thank God that I am not as other people, especially as the Pharisees who despised the publican?
20. Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold a resentment toward or disregard? If so, what am I doing about it?
21. Do I grumble or complain constantly?
22. Is Christ real to me?
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How is it with your soul?
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Worship Set:
Mighty Name Of Jesus
Like Incense
My Hallelujah
I Love You Lord
Holy Spirit