Knowing His Voice

intro- It’s a Marathon not a sprint

Walking with Jesus is a journey that takes time and deepens our relationship

Maybe you’re new to the faith or maybe you’ve walked with the Lord for years

We should never be satisfied with our current relationship with Jesus

Today, we’re gonna talk about Prayer & How important it is for us so we can know the Shepard’s voice

God can speak to us in many ways.

Through : His word, Other people, In prayer...

Prayer is important factor in knowing God’s heart and His plans

When we spend time alone with Jesus we begin to know His voice

John 10:27 NASB95

27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;

It goes on to say, HE IS THE GOOD SHEPARD

Let me explain why this is important in this scripture

Culturally during those times in ancient Israel one sheep pen held several flocks, so it was important that the sheep recognize their own shepards voice

There was unmistakable familiarity between the sheep and Shepard -and it meant the sheep would know what voice to FOLLOW.

Jesus here in the scripture identifies himself as the Good Shepard.

Ex: Even when the sheep were being stubborn, and not listening to their shepard, doing their own thing, he’s a GOOD SHEPARD - he’s patient

Looking back, People followed him because he was caring and loving - unlike the religious leaders of that time who cared more about the law vs. a relationship with God - so Jesus was just trying to teach them WHO HE REALLY WAS

Jesus’ desire was for his followers to KNOW who his father was and to point them to Him.

When we KNOW the Lord’s voice, it shows that we are making an effort to be with him daily-

experiential knowledge is gained through a relationship with him

God speaks when were in prayer with him.

Prayer is knowing his voice.

Prayer Invites us to the Table to Talk with Him

Prayer changes US

prayer is an invitation

Extended to US into the Presence of God

prayer is not about telling God what you want done, it’s inviting Him to do something in you.

How You Should Pray.

Luke 11:1

“Teach us to Pray” - Disciples

Of all the things, they couldve asked for instead they asked jesus to teach them to pray

Maybe we dont know how to pray

We get so focused on the fact that we dont know how to pray all the right words, therefore we give up.

Resist the temptation to make prayer more difficult than it ought to be

You get to talk to God person-to-person, face-to-face

communicate with Him like you would a friend.

This whole series about KNOWINGJESUS

Anyone can pray to God, only a CHILD can pray to a FATHER

EX. Anyone can ask my Dad for something, but when it’s me he’s willing to do anything for HIS DAUGHTER - his child

It’s an intimate conversation between a child and their Father

He loves you and cares deeply about everything in your life

He already knows you through and through

You don’t have to hide your embarrassing secrets

He knows you, yet still desires to LISTEN to you...

You’re engaging in a conversation, not a monologue

Learn to LISTEN to God as much as you talk to God

He already knows your heart and your thoughts - our desire is to know His heart and His thoughts...

We often come to God with just a LIST

To limit a limitless God to a list is quite limiting.

Here’s the thing, you don’t know everything that’s going on, so your list is incomplete.

If you only come to God with a list of things you want to talk about you’re going to limit the things He will speak to.

Ex: I tend to control things - and man, how that limits what God wants to do instead - His way is better ( I stress - I have anxiety)

Ive learned to be confident in my father

We need to hear the fullness of what God wants to say to us

Many people never hear God because they only relate to God through a list.

Your list is YOUR VOICE- Listening is TUNING INTO HIS VOICE

Listening requires me to shut my mouth.

Samuel - speak your servant is listening - 1 Sam 3.

God desires to talk with us - For us to know HIS voice

Create a quiet time with Lord

God did not speak to Samuel in the rush hour of the day, but in the rest of night

EX: MY quiet time with the Lord

God is very confident in his goodness and will not enter a competition with your distractions

He’s not interested in trying to prove himself

better than netflix that we’re binging on

got more to offer than social media

he’ll just go silent

he knows you’ll spend all your time on these things just to come to the conclusion there’s no life in them

ALL OF THESE other THINGS that we chase to fill the spaces of our life ARE JUST A BAD VOICE- THE BAD SHEPARD - WOLVES IN SHEEPS CLOTHING

you’ll start getting thirsty for his voice and he’ll sit back and wait for you to come back to him

Far too often (I’m guilty of it myself) I see people who once were running for the Lord- they get TOO busy to make time for jesus and then they begin to wonder why their life starts falling apart.

God wants to be the one that we go to in what direction and YES’ that we say Yes to in our lives.

God will not fight with your distractions.

You’ve got to fight for quiet and stillness.

Listening has to happen by design because it’ll never happen by default

you’re not going to stumble into a quiet place

you’ve gotta fight for it

the quieter you are the louder God gets

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD

Silence the outside noise - and the internal noise!

like me? mind goes 10000 mph

wrangle your racing mind - embrace boredom

hard for us - overstimulated

Pastor reminded us a couple weeks ago -Your mind is like a toddler on sugar.

hold it, subdue it, let it tire itself out

set there till all those thoughts wear themselves out

let em run

they don’t have strong attention spans, they’re gonna bounce around a lot

eventually it’ll stop running and you’ll be able to focus

We give up so often because we feel guilty that our mind is racing.

“My thoughts may wander 10,000 times - but it’s just 10,000 opportunities to come right back to Jesus.”

God had to speak to Samuel four times.

He didn’t give up and leave. He hung in there with him until Samuel could recognize his voice.

God is commited to doing the same with you.

Fight for silence and stillness.

WHEN You should Pray.

Practice doesn’t make perfect; practice makes permanent.

Begin a prayer LIFE (not time…)

praying constantly throughout the day (even little prayers)

don’t have to kneel, close your eyes, or speak out loud

develop a habit of thanking God in your heart (gratitude)

EX: I love to mumble under my breathe and pray everywhere i go - whether its gratitude or for person in public that i walk by that may have a spirit of heaviness about them

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 NLT

16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Prayer should be a natural part of your every day life.

Think of prayer like a muscle - start

In addition to spontaneous prayer - be intentional about prayer time.

shut the door on the world and focus on God (no phone!)

daily HABIT (discipline) of setting aside a specific time to pray

ROUTINE! your spiritual life NEEDS structure

Just like we said, "Listening has to happen by design because it’ll never happen by default”

Your spiritual life wont happen by default- YOUVE gotta be intentional with your prayer life

your feelings are not going to lead you to prayer...

when? morning, night?

pick the time that works for you

personally, I think it’s best to give God the FIRST-FRUITS of your day

ex- my Pa has been a huge example of routine

transition- We’ve discussed how prayer and talking to God is important

CLOSING-

Find a secret place.

Jesus prayed in secluded places.

Abraham prayed under a starry night sky.

Adam walked with GOD in the “cool” of the day - SPIRIT TIME.

Play some prayer and worship music while you pray.

helps focus

start with WORSHIP

“Ministering before the Lord” never appears attached to Eli’s name. Only to Samuel.

What is ministering before the Lord?

LIST prayer is focused on how God can minister to me

LISTENING prayer starts with saying, “God, how can I minister to you?”

Completely different approach

But there’s something powerful about ministering to the Lord - WORSHIP

the idea I’m setting aside present struggles, worries - taking in God

awe of who he is

expressing my gratitude

perceiving his nature

It ministers to him, but also to us!