Open Your Ears To God

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As a church we are going to commit to focus on a season of prayer. We are going to walk in the pasture of prayer

What does that mean

That means that we, as the sheep of God… as his flock, we are going to go where he leads

We are going to graze and enjoy the goodness of prayer

we are going to experience and enjoy prayer

Prayer is a blessed gift that God gives us

he doesn’t have to have an open line of communication with us

We definitely don’t deserve it

But he chooses to listen and to speak to his children in order to know us and more importantly for us to know him better

So we are walking into this pasture to enjoy the bounty that is present in the life of prayer

Last week we discussed Jeremiah 29:11-14

Jeremiah 29:11–14 ESV

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

and this is what we are going to do as a people we will seek him and find him

Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:33

Matthew 6:33 ESV

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

all these things meaning lesser things. Meaning distractions. meaning frustrations. Meaning time consuming and soul consuming politics, personal and interpersonal issues, meaning finances… all these things will be viewed with the right perspective once we seek the kingdom of God first

How do you know if you are seeking the will of God, the kingdom of God First?

How do you know the will of God?

How do you know the heart of God and if you are walking in it?

How can you tell if your passions, your focus is in step with the spirit of God

Here’s a question… how much time do you spend listening to God

Because you see the answer to all those questions are tied up in the final one

The amount of time you spend listening to God will determine your confidence in your ability to be led by God

Our text for today is John 10:1-9

John 10:1–9 ESV

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

We see Jesus in this chapter speaking to his disciples about his disciples

He uses this imagery of a shepherd and a pasture

I want us to hone in on one section here 3-5

Jesus tells us here that his sheep know his voice and they follow him… They do not know the voice of strangers

Let’s just sit in that for a minute

Think about the voices that are fighting to lead you… can you recognize Jesus in the midst of all of them?

We like to think that we would right?

But I’ll tell you church that unless we get serious about listening to the voice of the Lord… we will be lead by imposters

If we are truly His sheep, we will know his voice and we wont follow another

The other is not out for your good… but to steal, kill, and destroy

to kill the witness of the church, to steal the Glory from God, and to destroy your faith as well as your ability to minister to those who need to hear the voice of the shepherd through you and your actions

There is a real enemy of your soul out there who wants to destroy you

He is trying to lead you to destruction by a myriad of voices and we are so distracted by the chaos that we are falling right into his nonsense

I believe a few things are true

One is that a lot of self proclaimed Christians don’t actually know the shepherd… but they are trying to follow the sheep

What do I mean by that? That there are people that are great at fitting in with what Christians are supposed to do and say yet they have never listened to the voice of the actual Shepherd

Jesus - Goats and Sheep

Moses - the people wanted him to talk to God

The second thing I believe is true is that Christians don’t hear the Lord because they don’t want to

Its easier to assume that Jesus agrees with you then it is to go to the Word with humility, to enter into his presence with awe and reverence and allow Him to truly speak to you and for you to have to admit that you said something stupid or did something hurtful in His name

The third thing I believe is true is this

Believers are not hearing the voice of God because they are just living in too much noise

1 Kings tells the story of Elijah standing in the mount before the Lord awaiting the Lord to pass by

There was a strong wid that tore the mountains and broke the rocks but he Lod wasn’t in the wind

There was an earthquake, but the lord wasn’t in the earthquake

THere was a fire but the Lord wasn’t in the fire

After the fire there was a whisper… and the Lord was in the whisper

You can look around and see that there is wind, there are earthquakes, there are fires… but can you hear the Lord whisper to you?

When was the last time you heard that still small voice of the Shepherd of your soul telling you that he loves you and he delights in you and he wants you to be still before him?

I’ve got something for us to do...

Hand out prayer journals

I want you to write a few things in here

yes we pray for the things we want, we pray for the concerns, we pray praises… but we also need to have a place where we can write what we are hearing from the Lord

He may or may not speak through an audible voice. He may speak through confirmations in your spirit that are also confirmed in his word

he may speak through Godly people that you love, or through songs...

But you need to write down what God is placing in your heart