Developing The Heart Of A Warrior Series

Developing the Heart of a Warrior Psalms 27:1-14

We started this series the week before Mother’s day and I want to pick up where I left off by saying, the heart determines everything that you and I really are.

As believer’s we have not been called to be problem starters but problem solvers.

We’ve been called to be intercessors, gap-standers, conquerors, warriors of faith.

That’s why Paul constantly reminds us that our daily walk, as believer’s, is through a battleground.

LISTEN what I’m about to say, you can take to the bank.

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, the enemy will be waging war against you.

He desires to bring you/me down. He wants nothing more than to destroy our faith and confidence, and to shatter our hopes and dreams and ultimately to defeat us.

I know this happens because, when God began to move in EBC a couple months ago, the enemy began attacking me physically, attacking my family and even sending others to attack my testimony.

This is where the heart of a warrior comes into play.

If, in the very depths of your soul, beats the heart of a warrior, you will be prepared for whatever may come your way.

King David was a veteran of many physical wars, as well as many spiritual wars.

David knew how to engage the enemy and was determined to be victorious.

Turn your Bibles to our text, for today, Psalm 27.

I believe, David is a prime example of developing the heart of a warrior and there are a number of lessons we can learn from this Psalm.

The first thing I want you to see is, developing the heart of a warrior begins by:

1. Placing our focus on our God, Not on our Fear.

A. David begins with a strong declaration: READ verse 1, with me.

Max Lucado shares the story of a parakeet named Chippie, who has had a very bad day.

Here’s how it all began.

Chippie’s owner decided to clean his cage… with a vacuum cleaner. She was almost finished when the phone rang, so she turned around to answer it. Before she knew it, Chippie was gone.

In a panic she ripped open the vacuum bag and there was Chippie, covered in all manner of things one would find in a vacuum cleaner bag, and poor Chippie was gasping for air.

She rushed him to the bathroom, shoved him under the faucet and washed the dirt away. Suddenly she realizes that Chippie is cold and wet so she reached for the hair dryer!

Poor Chippie never knew what hit him.

His owner was asked a few days later how he was recovering.

"Well", she replied, "Chippie doesn’t sing much anymore. He just sits and stares."

Have you ever felt like that? One minute you’re singing praises, and the next you’re caught up in a whirlwind of stress. Life sucks you up into its vortex and just when you think you’ve recovered from one storm another storm begins to blows in.

What should you do? Well you can do 1of 2 things.

1. You can be like Chippie the parakeet and let your fear steal your song/joy.

2. You can develop the heart of a warrior, refusing to let your song die.

This can only be accomplished when we focus on… who God is… how great He is, and what He means to us.

He is our light… He is our salvation and because of Him, NO enemy can take God’s salvation from us!

B. Look at verses 2, 3, David says that spiritual warfare requires confidence.

Confidence not in our own strength and abilities but in God, in His strength, HIS abilities and His power.

When we focus on God the enemy will always stumble and fall BUT when we lose our focus and the enemy to cause us to fear, we lose precious ground in our spiritual battle. Because fear causes us to back away instead of standing strong or moving forward…

BUT David, the veteran warrior for God, knew the secret to winning the fear game was to focus completely on his God and not on his fear. We need to be confident in God’s strength and not our own.

Next, a warrior’s heart is strengthened as we learn to:

2. Practice Unbroken Fellowship with God.

A. Look at verse 4: When David says "all the days of my life" he is talking about having a constant and intimate relationship with God.

He is not talking about coming to God only when we’re in trouble but staying in constant, unbroken, fellowship with Him!

B. Look at verse 5. Why did David have assurance in times of trouble?

Because before trouble ever got to him, he had been training to be a confident warrior of Almighty God and he knew that he was safe in the arms of his God.