Welcome to our Together on Mission podcast, where we seek to be with and like Jesus, as we begin a conversation with Jesus in the morning, through scripture, prayer, and meditation, and then continue that conversation with him throughout your day. Your host is Travis Twyman, the pastor at the Inland Vineyard Church in Corona, California. In this season of the podcast, we're going to be talking about diving deeper in our relationship with Jesus, through scripture, prayer, and meditation. We will focus on hearing the voice of God and being guided by the Spirit of God, not only when we chat with Jesus in the morning, but as we journey with Jesus throughout the entirety of your day.
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the daily Together on Mission podcast. It's great to be with all of you, it really is. We are doing what friends that are friends of Jesus do in the morning. We're getting up and just enjoying a bit of the wonderfulness of Jesus.
We're talking about diving deeply into our relationship, connection with Jesus, learning how to hear him, and enjoying him, and hopefully reframing, and reseeing, and reimagining, and re-enjoying the beautiful invitation of prayer. Now, I hesitate to title this podcast while I'm going to title this podcast, but you can turn to Psalm 23, and the title of this podcast is Backup Plan. And again, I hesitate to title a podcast on Psalm 23, Backup Plan, but I'm going to do that and give me a second to explain myself before you judge me for titling a podcast. I'm going to start with a little bit of honesty.
Sometimes, like I said in the last podcast, I don't want to go to prayer first thing in the morning. I just don't. And I'll also say honestly that I have had a fairly regular morning prayer devotional life for the last 25-ish years, and more or less, I look forward to my mornings with Jesus, and of course, coffee. More or less, I look forward to my mornings with Jesus.
But there are those times where I get up and I just don't want to go to prayer. I just want to go and get on with my day. And I'm sure that we're similar in this. Those mornings are typically mornings or days where I'm feeling stressed or very confused or depressed or anxious about something or busy or I'm feeling deadlines or whatever.
And I'm sure, again, that you can relate. And we have these kinds of thoughts on those mornings. I don't have time to pray or I don't want to pray. Or even if I tried to focus in on prayer, I wouldn't be able to focus.
Right? It's probably a good idea for me just not to pray today because I just need to get on with this or that or that because I've got deadlines or pressures and I've got to attend to them. Whatever it is for you, this feeling or those kind of thoughts will hit us on mornings where we just don't want to go to prayer. And so I, years ago, discovered a backup plan.
And my backup plan is to turn to Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing. Just turn to Psalm 23.
And that has been my backup plan when I don't want to pray. So on those mornings when I get up out of bed and I'm feeling, like I said, anxiety, pressure, I've got to get this done, I've got to get my day going, I kind of grab coffee, I stumble into my home office, I sit in my chair, I literally open up my Bible, I turn to Psalm 23, and I begin to read and pray this great Psalm. Now, before I continue this podcast, I just have to say that Psalm 23 is so much more than a backup plan. It is one of the greatest prayers, if not the greatest prayer that has ever been written and prayed in the history of the world.
This prayer has changed the world. And often I pray this prayer when I'm just in a wonderful place and having a wonderful morning with Jesus. But it is my backup plan when I don't want to pray. There's something about it that even when I don't want to pray and I begin to read and say and pray this prayer, it's centering.
And I think one of the reasons why is because the 23rd Psalm is so rhythmic, it's so poetic, it's so simple, it's so centering, it's so easy to memorize, it's so short, it's so smooth. And it's a prayer that I find myself just able to slip into no matter how I'm feeling. It's like liturgy, that'd be a good word for it. And it just feels right.
And I'll be honest, sometimes on those mornings when I need this backup plan, sometimes praying the 23rd Psalm changes everything. Sometimes it literally changes my mood and changes my morning. Sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes I still feel just as anxious or nervous.
But again, I found in my devotional life that although this Psalm is much more than a backup plan, it is my backup plan. And so again, I'll just sit down, Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. And on these kinds of mornings when I need a backup plan, I often feel like I lack quite a bit. And so just reading that line and then closing my eyes and saying, Lord, you're my shepherd, I lack nothing.
And I move on to how my shepherd, you know, helps me lie down in green pastures, right? Leads me beside quiet waters, refreshes my soul. The last thing I feel on these kinds of mornings is a refreshed soul. And so I just read those lines and say, God, you're the only one that refreshes my soul.
You're the only one that refreshes my soul. Only you can do that, God. I can't do that. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not fear.
And usually on these mornings, I'm fearful or anxious of this or that. There's a churning kind of inside of me on these kinds of mornings. And I say, God, no matter what I'm walking through the day, no matter what I'm feeling, I don't have to fear evil. I don't have to be anxious.
You're my shepherd. You've got me. Walk through this day with me. Walk through this morning with me.
And then the psalm talks about comfort. And then the psalm talks about goodness. And the psalm talks about mercy. And it is so simple and so rhythmic and so powerful.
And it's more than a backup plan. But it is such a good backup plan. And again, not to engage in too much autobiographical detail, but it has been my backup plan for so many years. And here's the thing.
As I'm saying this psalm, these lines and then pausing and reflecting and thinking, and sometimes my mind wanders and I just try in patience to bring my mind back to the truth and bring my heart back to the truth of the psalm. As I'm reading and praying Psalm 23, I begin to know that I need God right now, even if I don't feel like I do. I begin to realize that engaging his presence is the most important thing in the world, even if it doesn't seem like it right now. I begin to realize that I can't do life in my own strength, even if I want to get my day going and kick it in the tail and do whatever needs to be done.
I realize that I can't really do life in my own strength, even if I feel like I can. I cannot overcome my fear, even if I try. And I realize that only in God's presence do I truly, truly lack nothing. The Lord is my shepherd.
I lack nothing. So here's what I would love for us to do this morning. Just sit quietly for three minutes. Say each line of the 23rd Psalm after you read the line like he refreshes my soul.
Just close your eyes and let the truth of that line just soak into the soil of your soul. And whether you need a backup plan this morning or whether you don't need a backup plan this morning, Psalm 23, although more than a backup plan, has not been less than that. So enjoy it. It might be the greatest piece of literature that has ever been penned in the history of the world.
So let's pray it and let's enjoy the presence of Jesus. And we'll talk soon. Thanks for listening to the Together on Mission podcast. We truly hope that you were blessed and encouraged by it today.
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