100:00:00,000 –> 00:00:08,340It is hard enough to pray when the wicked seem to be winning, because that’s really200:00:08,340 –> 00:00:17,639discouraging. But how in the world are you going to pray when God seems far away.300:00:17,639 –> 00:00:22,760I’m very confident that every Christian knows this experience.400:00:22,760 –> 00:00:27,639Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. I’m David Pick, glad you could be500:00:27,700 –> 00:00:32,480with us today. And I think you’re quite right, Colin. Most Christians have gone past periods600:00:32,480 –> 00:00:37,080when they think God is far away. I’ve been there, you’ve been there. I think700:00:37,080 –> 00:00:42,459every Christian knows what this is like. And it tends to be an experience that comes at800:00:42,459 –> 00:00:48,400a time where we feel that the wicked are winning. Everything seems to be dark. I’m feeling defeated.900:00:48,400 –> 00:00:52,480And God seems further away than at any other time.1000:00:52,480 –> 00:00:57,580You may be there right now. Perhaps you, as you’re listening to this programme, it’s1100:00:57,580 –> 00:01:02,980been the very purpose of God that you be listening right now, because you feel that He is far1200:01:02,980 –> 00:01:08,540away. And you need to have an assurance from the Scriptures that in fact, God is able to1300:01:08,540 –> 00:01:14,260reach you and to stand with you and that He will be faithful to you. If you feel that1400:01:14,260 –> 00:01:20,660God is far away, then may you be encouraged, blessed, strengthened by the programme today.1500:01:20,779 –> 00:01:23,160Because God’s word is very directly for you.1600:01:23,160 –> 00:01:29,019It is and if you can why not join us in Psalm 10 as we continue how to pray when the wicked1700:01:29,019 –> 00:01:31,339seem to be winning. Here’s Colin.1800:01:31,339 –> 00:01:37,540There will be times when the wicked seem to be winning. Let’s not be naïve about what1900:01:37,540 –> 00:01:44,940we ourselves say that we believe in regards to sin and evil and its power. As Christians,2000:01:44,940 –> 00:01:52,500we say that we believe that men and women are born sinners. That it is in air nature,2100:01:52,500 –> 00:01:57,019that the default of human nature is that we are resistant to God, that we are hostile2200:01:57,019 –> 00:02:04,820to God. Then why in all the world if we actually believe that do we so often end up sounding2300:02:04,820 –> 00:02:14,320like moralist are deeply shocked when sinners demonstrate that what they want to do is sin?2400:02:14,779 –> 00:02:20,740And when every time a new piece of technology is developed, guess what? Sinners find a new2500:02:20,740 –> 00:02:29,660way to captivate that for sinful purposes. Why should that surprise us? It’s how human2600:02:29,660 –> 00:02:34,259nature is. It’s why we need to be redeemed. It’s why the only hope of the world is in2700:02:34,259 –> 00:02:41,919Jesus Christ, and in him crucified. So this Psalm is immensely helpful. I come here and2800:02:42,119 –> 00:02:47,300Oh, what we’re experiencing with this sense of wickedness on the rise. It’s exactly where2900:02:47,300 –> 00:02:53,460David was a thousand years before Christ. What’s new? This is the world in which we3000:02:53,460 –> 00:03:03,339live. This is the world in which we suffer. This is the world in which we bear witness.3100:03:03,339 –> 00:03:10,559And the more we get off the kind of naive pietism that can so easily characterise us,3200:03:10,559 –> 00:03:16,880the more we will become Christians who actually learn how to pray because of the world in3300:03:16,880 –> 00:03:21,880which we live and the God we have. And the more we learn how to pray and the more we3400:03:21,880 –> 00:03:28,619learn the nature of this world the more we will long for the new heaven and the new earth.3500:03:28,619 –> 00:03:36,520But it will be the home of righteousness where sin will be no more, and if we don’t get3600:03:36,520 –> 00:03:39,960it, guess what. We’ll be comfortable middle-class people are saying, how much can God do for3700:03:39,960 –> 00:03:46,199me now. It’s all the difference in the world. So this kind of praying is going to change3800:03:46,199 –> 00:03:51,520the very nature of who we are and it’s precisely the kind of praying we need to learn when3900:03:51,520 –> 00:03:59,600we are experiencing, in fresh ways, the disturbance and the dislocation of sensing great shifts4000:03:59,600 –> 00:04:09,880within our own culture and evil wickedness evidently on the rise. So pray when the wicked4100:04:09,880 –> 00:04:24,839seem to be winning and here’s the second thing. Pray when God seems far away. Verse one, Why4200:04:24,839 –> 00:04:37,700O Lord do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? Oh, this is4300:04:37,899 –> 00:04:44,339so helpful. It is hard enough to pray when the wicked seem to be winning. Because that’s4400:04:44,339 –> 00:04:53,739really discouraging but how in the world are you going to pray when God seems far away.4500:04:53,739 –> 00:05:00,100Now I am very confident that every Christian knows this experience. In fact, I’d be absolutely4600:05:00,100 –> 00:05:03,779amazed if anyone comes up to me in the foyer afterwards and says, I am a Christian and4700:05:03,779 –> 00:05:07,619I have never known what it is to feel that God is far away. You would be very unusual4800:05:07,940 –> 00:05:12,299person. We all know what it is for God to feel far4900:05:12,299 –> 00:05:18,339away. And it is most difficult for us to pray then. And of course these two things go together5000:05:18,339 –> 00:05:22,700when the wicked seem to be winning, of course God seems to be far away. We are struggling5100:05:22,700 –> 00:05:28,480to see how his hand is at work. And it is very very difficult to pray. And yet it is5200:05:28,480 –> 00:05:37,480precisely at this time and out of this experience that David prays this prayer. And it is wonderfully5300:05:37,480 –> 00:05:45,799encouraging to me first to know that even King David experienced this. Okay, if even5400:05:45,799 –> 00:05:52,839David felt at times that God was far away then that helps me, I’m not unusual, I’m not5500:05:52,839 –> 00:06:00,440unusual and I can pray at such a time, but what is even more encouraging to me is this.5600:06:00,440 –> 00:06:13,500Think about it. The Holy Spirit was present with David and active in David even when he5700:06:13,500 –> 00:06:23,480felt that God was far away, verse 1. This prayer is scripture, which means that it was5800:06:23,480 –> 00:06:33,200actually breathed out by the Holy Spirit. So we can say that David was praying in the5900:06:33,200 –> 00:06:42,119Spirit even when he felt God was far away. That is so encouraging to me. I must not read6000:06:42,119 –> 00:06:48,279from that that God is absent, God was present with David and active with David even when6100:06:48,279 –> 00:06:55,579he felt that God was far away. Now take this to yourself and get hold of6200:06:55,579 –> 00:07:01,059it because it’s a very important principle. It’s a wonderful encouragement. God is with6300:07:01,059 –> 00:07:10,839you, Christian believer, and God is active in you, brother, sister, by his Holy Spirit6400:07:10,839 –> 00:07:17,700even when you feel that he is far away, period. Learn that from this verse.6500:07:17,700 –> 00:07:22,399So pray when they wicked seem to be winning and pray when God seems to be far away. That’s6600:07:22,399 –> 00:07:30,839what David models for us here. Now the question of course is how, and the6700:07:30,839 –> 00:07:38,000Holy Spirit through David’s prayer here gives us a wonderful model of how to pray in these6800:07:38,000 –> 00:07:43,799circumstances. Notice how the Holy Spirit leads David in prayer. Let me give it to you6900:07:43,839 –> 00:07:52,920under three very simple headings here. The first is stop thinking like the wicked. Stop7000:07:52,920 –> 00:08:00,799thinking like the wicked. Now, there’s a fascinating turn in this Psalm7100:08:00,799 –> 00:08:08,119that happens at verse 12 and it is almost as if thinking about the wicked for the first7200:08:08,920 –> 00:08:15,54011 verses in the presence of God, wakens David up to renewed faith in God. It’s very wonderful7300:08:15,540 –> 00:08:20,000to see how this happens. At the start of the prayer, David says, verse7400:08:20,000 –> 00:08:24,880one, why, oh, Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself? So God seems to7500:08:24,880 –> 00:08:29,600be far away and remote and not doing things and uninvolved. You don’t seem to do anything.7600:08:29,600 –> 00:08:36,919God, you don’t seem to do anything. God, you’re far away. God, you’re uninvolved. Wait a minute!7700:08:37,200 –> 00:08:43,919That’s what the wicked think, right? God will forget. God will not bring anything to account.7800:08:43,919 –> 00:08:47,679It’s almost as if it comes to David. Do you see the parallel between verse one and verse7900:08:47,679 –> 00:08:54,080eleven? Verse one, David says, why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? Verse eleven,8000:08:54,080 –> 00:08:59,500the wicked say he has hidden his face and he will never see. And it’s as if, by the8100:08:59,500 –> 00:09:04,500time David gets to verse eleven, he suddenly awakens up and he says, wait a minute. I started8200:09:04,500 –> 00:09:08,239my prayer by saying something that sounds pretty like what the wicked are saying every8300:09:08,239 –> 00:09:16,460day. That’s crazy. Campbell-Morgan says, beautifully, this prayer, it begins with a complaint and8400:09:16,460 –> 00:09:23,880it ends with confidence. And David takes a turn in the course of prayer. This is part8500:09:23,880 –> 00:09:29,419of the wonderful gift of prayer, that it actually changes us as well as changing things. And8600:09:30,159 –> 00:09:34,840praise his eyes are opened which is why it’s so important for him to spell out the nature8700:09:34,840 –> 00:09:40,760to the problem. And now he begins to see something he didn’t see before. Verse 11 is the turning8800:09:40,760 –> 00:09:45,880point of the psalm, David wakens up to what had been happening in his own soul and here8900:09:45,880 –> 00:09:53,679it is. The wicked always discount God. The wicked always say God’s not going to do anything.9000:09:53,679 –> 00:09:57,960And the reason I’ve become so discouraged is I’ve ended up thinking like them. I’ve9100:09:57,960 –> 00:10:01,159been looking at all the trouble in the world and I’ve been discounting God and I’ve given9200:10:01,159 –> 00:10:08,539up on God doing anything. Stop thinking like the wicked. It’s a wonderful eye opening9300:10:08,539 –> 00:10:10,380moment. You’re listening to Open The Bible with9400:10:10,380 –> 00:10:14,900Pastor Colin Smith and a message called How To Pray When The Wicked Seem To Be Winning9500:10:14,900 –> 00:10:22,640and we’ll return to the message very shortly. When you come to our website OpenTheBible.org.uk9600:10:22,700 –> 00:10:26,640click on the menu item called Courses there’s 2 options9700:10:26,640 –> 00:10:31,859Courses for leaders and Fly Through The Bible courses for leaders are designed to equip9800:10:31,880 –> 00:10:38,419you with a solid biblical foundation and practical guidance for serving God over the long term.9900:10:38,419 –> 00:10:44,119These resources are absolutely free, learn how to watch your life there’s a 6 part series10000:10:44,119 –> 00:10:50,320on that and a 3 part series on sustaining a life time in ministry under fly through10100:10:50,320 –> 00:10:56,419the bible there’s a flexible 15 part course on the whole of the bible with video and other10200:10:56,419 –> 00:11:01,919resources available it’s an overview of the whole of the bible from Genesis to Revelation10300:11:01,919 –> 00:11:05,760showing how it all hangs together and all points to Jesus.10400:11:05,760 –> 00:11:10,239That’s all on our website www.openthebible.org.uk10500:11:11,039 –> 00:11:13,239Back to the message now, here’s Colin10600:11:13,580 –> 00:11:18,739Stop thinking like the wicked. It’s a wonderful eye opening moment.10700:11:19,739 –> 00:11:22,919Second, start trusting God.10800:11:24,260 –> 00:11:28,880Be done with this idea that can lurk even in a Christian heart that God’s never gonna10900:11:28,900 –> 00:11:30,940do anything and start trusting him.11000:11:30,940 –> 00:11:35,580Verse 13, why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart he will not call to account?11100:11:35,580 –> 00:11:40,820Verse 14, you do see, and you note mischief.11200:11:40,820 –> 00:11:42,640You’re writing it all down.11300:11:44,020 –> 00:11:45,960The wicked says God’s hidden his face.11400:11:46,140 –> 00:11:48,520Verse 11, David says you do see.11500:11:49,539 –> 00:11:51,859The wicked says God’s forgotten, verse 11.11600:11:51,859 –> 00:11:54,659David says no, you note mischief, verse 14.11700:11:54,659 –> 00:11:57,859You’re writing it all down.11800:11:57,859 –> 00:12:03,700And so as this marvelous turn takes place in the prayer, there are some core convictions11900:12:03,700 –> 00:12:07,159for praying when the wicked seem to be winning.12000:12:07,960 –> 00:12:13,700Notice how David particularly draws attention in this prayer to God’s eye.12100:12:13,840 –> 00:12:18,500You do see, verse 14, you do see.12200:12:18,500 –> 00:12:20,000You see everything.12300:12:20,000 –> 00:12:29,739Oh God, you’ve seen what’s happening in the country and you see what is happening12400:12:29,739 –> 00:12:31,880to me.12500:12:31,880 –> 00:12:37,460Think of this as you come into the presence of God and how wonderfully helpful it is.12600:12:37,460 –> 00:12:42,119God sees and knows and notes down everything that relates to you.12700:12:42,119 –> 00:12:43,460Nothing is hidden from him.12800:12:43,760 –> 00:12:50,219If you have been oppressed, if you have been mistreated, if you have been taken advantage12900:12:50,219 –> 00:12:54,179of by an unscrupulous person, you sometimes say, well, nobody really understands.13000:12:54,179 –> 00:12:55,640Nobody’s really seen.13100:12:55,739 –> 00:12:58,219Oh yeah, God has seen.13200:12:58,219 –> 00:13:00,659And it’s all known to him.13300:13:00,659 –> 00:13:05,080The person who has taken advantage of you, God knows all about that.13400:13:05,080 –> 00:13:07,280It’s all written down, it’s all seen.13500:13:07,280 –> 00:13:10,500Very wonderful.13600:13:10,500 –> 00:13:12,739And then he focuses on God’s hand, verse 12 and verse 14.13700:13:13,580 –> 00:13:15,479Arise, O Lord, lift up your hand.13800:13:15,580 –> 00:13:20,780Verse 14, you take note of mischief, that you may take it into your hands.13900:13:20,780 –> 00:13:21,780Beautiful!14000:13:23,780 –> 00:13:27,520The hand, of course, is a reference to strength.14100:13:27,520 –> 00:13:31,719And that is why when, in verse 15, it says, break the arm of the wicked.14200:13:31,719 –> 00:13:34,119That means, break the power of the wicked.14300:13:34,119 –> 00:13:40,880Lord, use your divine power to bring restraint and ultimately to bring an end to the power14400:13:40,880 –> 00:13:41,979of the wicked.14500:13:41,979 –> 00:13:48,320And of course, this is a prayer that God wonderfully answers, in part, now.14600:13:48,320 –> 00:13:50,799And will answer fully at the end of time.14700:13:50,799 –> 00:13:54,359Verse 15, break the arm of the wicked.14800:13:54,359 –> 00:14:03,020Call His wickedness to account till you find no more.14900:14:03,020 –> 00:14:05,280What a day that’s gonna be.15000:14:05,340 –> 00:14:15,580When God calls wickedness to account, until He finds no more.15100:14:15,580 –> 00:14:23,559And then, when it is all been judged, and the new creation is formed, and the people15200:14:23,559 –> 00:14:29,219of God in the home of righteousness, and sin shall be no more.15300:14:29,219 –> 00:14:34,080His hand, He’ll do this by His power.15400:14:34,080 –> 00:14:35,760We can’t deliver the world from evil.15500:14:35,760 –> 00:14:38,859Not for us, not for David to deliver the world from wickedness.15600:14:38,859 –> 00:14:40,200How is he gonna do that?15700:14:40,200 –> 00:14:41,200God will do it.15800:14:41,200 –> 00:14:43,099Take it into your hand.15900:14:43,099 –> 00:14:50,059Now, this is a prayer that God answers in part now and fully at the end of time.16000:14:50,059 –> 00:14:52,919And both are important.16100:14:52,919 –> 00:14:57,000It’s in part now, because of course, as we said already, as long as we are in this world,16200:14:57,000 –> 00:14:58,739we will face the challenge of wickedness.16300:14:58,739 –> 00:15:02,599It’ll keep breaking out in new forms.16400:15:02,619 –> 00:15:06,580But remember this, and this is the point of the prayer.16500:15:06,580 –> 00:15:16,219That God in His mercy restrains wickedness so that however bad it is in the world, it16600:15:16,219 –> 00:15:20,820would be worse if it were not for the grace of God.16700:15:20,820 –> 00:15:27,219We call this common grace, that is the grace in which God restrains wickedness to some16800:15:27,219 –> 00:15:31,559extent, even with those who do not know him or love him.16900:15:31,559 –> 00:15:40,400Think about this, only in hell is the full extent of evil really known, and thank God17000:15:40,400 –> 00:15:43,820this world however bad it is, at its worst is still not hell.17100:15:43,820 –> 00:15:50,200It is not heaven and only Christ can bring us into heaven, but it is not hell either.17200:15:50,200 –> 00:15:52,119Why is it not hell?17300:15:52,119 –> 00:15:55,780Why is it better than hell at its worst?17400:15:55,780 –> 00:16:02,919Because God mercifully answers this prayer and restrains in some degree the full force17500:16:02,919 –> 00:16:06,599of the expression and the work of the wicked.17600:16:06,599 –> 00:16:14,580He does not stop it, but he restrains it in some degree, however bad your experience in17700:16:14,580 –> 00:16:21,780this world, you have not experienced anything like what hell is.17800:16:21,780 –> 00:16:26,400And that is the point of this prayer that, as a Christian believer, I’m experiencing17900:16:26,400 –> 00:16:31,460evil, I know that I’m going to live in this world with its realities and with its sufferings18000:16:31,460 –> 00:16:36,099and with its difficulties, and that is not going to change, but I can ask God for help,18100:16:36,099 –> 00:16:41,419I can ask God for relief, I can ask God to put the brakes on, I can ask God for some18200:16:41,419 –> 00:16:43,500deliverance.18300:16:43,500 –> 00:16:47,380And then I can look to the day when the deliverance that will be in part now will be complete18400:16:47,380 –> 00:16:50,460and it will be full, and it will be forever.18500:16:50,659 –> 00:17:00,020And it will be glorious and He will call wickedness until account until there is no more.18600:17:00,020 –> 00:17:05,180And to that end, thinking about God’s eye, He knows it all, His hand, the power of His18700:17:05,180 –> 00:17:09,979hand to restrain now and then to judge till there is no more then.18800:17:09,979 –> 00:17:15,780Then, of course, there’s this beautiful focus of God’s throne.18900:17:15,780 –> 00:17:16,859Verse 16.19000:17:16,939 –> 00:17:21,859The Lord is king forever and forever.19100:17:21,859 –> 00:17:24,339It’s like something out of the book of Revelation, isn’t it?19200:17:24,339 –> 00:17:28,119The Lord is king forever and forever.19300:17:28,119 –> 00:17:29,660Lord, I’ve been so discouraged.19400:17:29,660 –> 00:17:31,180I’ve felt that You are afar off.19500:17:31,180 –> 00:17:32,560I’ve been thinking like the wicked.19600:17:32,560 –> 00:17:35,760I’ve been discounting You.19700:17:35,760 –> 00:17:39,339And now that I’ve come into Your presence, I’m seeing Your eye.19800:17:39,339 –> 00:17:41,060You know it all.19900:17:41,060 –> 00:17:45,660And You know everything that I have felt was so hidden.20000:17:45,660 –> 00:17:48,400And Your hand, powerful!20100:17:48,400 –> 00:17:50,260And You’re on the throne.20200:17:50,260 –> 00:17:54,819And You’re on the throne forever and forever.20300:17:54,819 –> 00:17:57,180Stop thinking like the wicked, start trusting in God.20400:17:57,180 –> 00:18:00,859And here is the very last thing just briefly.20500:18:00,859 –> 00:18:06,660Stand with Christ in the school of prayer.20600:18:06,660 –> 00:18:10,420Jesus would have known this, Sam.20700:18:10,420 –> 00:18:13,180What did it mean to Him?20800:18:13,180 –> 00:18:15,500How would He have used it?20900:18:15,500 –> 00:18:22,339Did Jesus ever experience the things that gave rise to this Psalm from David?21000:18:22,339 –> 00:18:25,939We only need to ask the question.21100:18:25,939 –> 00:18:29,699And you see, Jesus is all over this Psalm.21200:18:29,699 –> 00:18:35,359Did Christ know the greed of the wicked?21300:18:35,359 –> 00:18:41,520Yes, He stood in the temple and He saw how the house of prayer had been turned into a21400:18:41,619 –> 00:18:44,319marketplace for gain.21500:18:44,319 –> 00:18:50,520Did Christ know what it is for the wicked to lurk in ambush?21600:18:50,520 –> 00:18:57,079Yes, day after day I was teaching in the temple and now you come to me with swords and clubs21700:18:57,079 –> 00:18:59,520as they arrest Him in the garden of Gethsemane.21800:18:59,520 –> 00:19:06,920Did Jesus know the violence of the wicked springing up upon Him?21900:19:06,920 –> 00:19:13,900Oh yes, they beat Him with clubs, they nail Him to a cross.22000:19:13,900 –> 00:19:24,920Did Jesus know what it was to ask why and to feel that God is far away?22100:19:24,920 –> 00:19:27,979My God, my God!22200:19:27,979 –> 00:19:32,900Why have you forsaken me,22300:19:32,900 –> 00:19:35,400Christ knows what it is.22400:19:35,459 –> 00:19:43,520He says to His enemies, this is your hour when darkness reigns.22500:19:43,520 –> 00:19:49,739Oh Christ knows every part of the experience that gave birth to the psalm penned by David22600:19:49,739 –> 00:19:55,439and useful for us, and more than that, Christ knows what it is to trust the Father in the22700:19:55,439 –> 00:20:04,219middle of this ultimate darkness and to say Father into Your hand I commit my22800:20:04,219 –> 00:20:12,619Spirit. Jesus knows this more deeply than David did. He’s lived this psalm. He can22900:20:12,619 –> 00:20:20,699pray the psalm with you, and you can pray this psalm with Jesus. And when you wonder23000:20:20,699 –> 00:20:29,500if God has forgotten you, when you feel that God is far away, this psalm is for you. God23100:20:29,500 –> 00:20:38,260is calling you to stand in faith and not think like the wicked, and Jesus will stand with23200:20:38,260 –> 00:20:48,500you as you draw near to God in prayer. And remember this, that Jesus not only endured23300:20:48,500 –> 00:20:56,119wickedness, he triumphed over it. You, says Peter on the Day of Pentecost, you put him23400:20:56,180 –> 00:21:01,959death with the help of wicked men, but God raised him from the dead. He raised him up23500:21:01,959 –> 00:21:10,760and he is king forever and forever. And this Christ hears the desire of the afflicted.23600:21:10,760 –> 00:21:19,060This Christ is able to strengthen your heart, and right now his hand is held out to every23700:21:19,060 –> 00:21:25,760person, whatever you may have done, whatever wickedness there may have been in your life,23800:21:25,780 –> 00:21:31,060and right now his hand is not raised in judgment towards you, it’s raised in invitation towards23900:21:31,060 –> 00:21:40,140you. Wickedness is going down, friends, but here is the good news for every person today,24000:21:40,140 –> 00:21:45,719you do not need to go down with your wickedness, God offers grace and mercy through his son24100:21:45,719 –> 00:21:54,780Jesus Christ. So turn to him in faith, come to him in repentance, and ask him to make24200:21:54,939 –> 00:22:01,939you a new creation even today. Here on Open the Bible, Colin finishing with24300:22:02,640 –> 00:22:06,939that great prayer. If you don’t know Christ, I hope you’ll take the opportunity to do24400:22:06,939 –> 00:22:11,140just that. And if you are a Christian, it’s still a great prayer, to bring you closer24500:22:11,140 –> 00:22:15,319to God. Our message today is called How to pray when24600:22:15,319 –> 00:22:19,479the wicked seem to be winning, and if you’ve missed any of the series so far, or if you24700:22:19,479 –> 00:22:22,819want to go back and listen to this message or any of the others that have already gone24800:22:22,939 –> 00:22:28,040out on-air, you can do that by coming online to our website openthebible.org.uk24900:22:28,040 –> 00:22:33,099and of course you can also find them at a podcast and those are on all the main podcast25000:22:33,099 –> 00:22:38,239sites. You can find them by searching for Open the Bible UK or indeed follow the link25100:22:38,239 –> 00:22:42,939from our website. Open the Bible is able to stay on the radio25200:22:42,939 –> 00:22:48,640and on the internet because of the very generous donations made by our listeners. So if you25300:22:49,239 –> 00:22:53,819give to support Open the Bible, thank you so much. If that’s something that you’ve25400:22:53,819 –> 00:22:59,459been considering doing in the future, each month we aim to offer a special gift in return25500:22:59,459 –> 00:23:04,400for setting up a new support payment for Open the Bible. If you are able to set up a new25600:23:04,400 –> 00:23:11,400monthly direct debit of £5 per month or more or a one-off gift of £50 or more, we’d25700:23:11,500 –> 00:23:16,680love to say thank you by sending you a copy of Colin Smith’s book Fly Thorough the25800:23:17,020 –> 00:23:22,339Here’s Open the Bible’s Amanda Cunningham to talk about the book and also about some25900:23:22,339 –> 00:23:26,400other exciting resources which are free for everyone to receive.26000:23:26,400 –> 00:23:30,780Thanks David. Well if you’ve been listening for a while you’ll know that we love to26100:23:30,780 –> 00:23:36,060to give away a free book each month when you donate, either a one-off gift of £50 or more26200:23:36,060 –> 00:23:42,219or by setting up a new direct debit of at least £5. But this July and August we’re26300:23:42,339 –> 00:23:48,140something extra special. We’ve launched a campaign full of free resources to help you26400:23:48,140 –> 00:23:53,939open the Bible with others, because we know that can be hard and we want to equip you.26500:23:53,939 –> 00:23:59,260So yes, you’ll still get a free copy of Fly Through the Bible when you donate, but26600:23:59,260 –> 00:24:03,540anyone can now access a whole set of free tools.26700:24:03,540 –> 00:24:09,219We’ve got a video series where Colin Smith walks through each session of the Fly Through26800:24:09,420 –> 00:24:14,219the Bible course on our website. There’s a free app!26900:24:14,239 –> 00:24:16,780Just search Fly Through the Bible in your app store.27000:24:16,780 –> 00:24:22,800And if you’re a church leader thinking ahead to September, head to openthebible.org.uk27100:24:22,800 –> 00:24:28,180forward-slash fly and download our free small group discussion guide.27200:24:28,180 –> 00:24:34,439We really pray these resources bless you and those around you as you open the Bible together.27300:24:34,439 –> 00:24:38,219And what better place to start than a journey through the Bible story.27400:24:38,979 –> 00:24:39,780Thanks Amanda!27500:24:39,780 –> 00:24:46,119You can access these free resources at our website openthebible.org.uk27600:24:46,119 –> 00:24:51,739And you can download the Fly app at the Apple App Store or Google Play.27700:24:51,739 –> 00:24:56,939Our offer to send you a copy of Colin’s book Fly Through the Bible is available all this month.27800:24:56,939 –> 00:25:03,939Full details terms and conditions are on our website openthebible.org.uk27900:25:03,939 –> 00:25:05,939And you can give online.28000:25:05,979 –> 00:25:12,979For Open the Bible, Pastor Colin Smith, I’m David Pick and I hope you’ll join us again next time.28100:25:17,959 –> 00:25:20,260Do you feel like you are in a spiritual rut?28200:25:20,260 –> 00:25:22,300Is your faith being tested?28300:25:22,300 –> 00:25:26,060Join us next time on Open the Bible.