Step Three: Pray About Your Decision
Notes
Transcript
Sober mind
Pure heart
Courageous spirit
God’s wisdom
Faith
Refuse to trust yourself
Seek and surrender to God’s will
Yes, God. Now tell me what’s the question.
Prayer about the decision, up until this point, is pointless.
If our heart isn’t surrendered then we are not going to listen to how the Lord is leading
If we do not trust the Lord, then our prayer becomes, God I want to trust You. Help me to trust You.
Questions about prayer:
What does it mean to pray about a decision?
How do we pray about a decision?
Why do we pray about a decision?
What is the motivator behind praying about a decision?
What is the expected outcome regarding prayer about a decision?
I’ve prayed about it
Pray can become a trite way of blanketing a lot of self-will or outright disobedience to God
Can be a way of dismissing what God wants us to do
Avoid self-deception
Is this a mystical way
You want the will of God, and ready to do what God says
And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. And the Lord said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria:
Mt Carmel - fire & Elijah destroyed the prophets of Baal
Elijah is very zealous that Israel turns back to God
Mt Carmel - far north
Goes to Mt Horeb - far south
Elijah needs to hear from God
Wants a big announcement, but God comes in a still small voice
Elijah needs to focus on the heart and voice of God
Purpose of prayer is taking your surrendered heart and saying God, “Direct, lead, guide, and shape my heart to do Your will.”
Quiet your world
Am I going to disobey Him?
Come to a point of knowing that if I don’t step forward of disobeying God
Why would God give you more information if you are not willing to surrender and obey Him?
Opportunities potentially taking one away from God
Choosing someone to date - there is one that is the will of God
10 options - 1 is the will of God and 9 of those options are not
It’s not what I want, but where is God’s will for me
Things that determine what we spend are time might be good things, but might not be God things. It’s important to discern what God wants us to do.
Satan is happy is for us to do good things as long as they are not what God wants us to do
Often this is the struggle between what is good and what God desires
Sometime it’s a struggle of:
Preacher or drug dealer
I need to know what is God’s will
Other voices need to be quieted in my heart - If I’m listening to 10 voices, I’m not going to hear God’s voice
Man in the middle - multiple choices
Thank you, but I need to pray
It’s hard to hear the still small voice of God
I’m surrendered
Counsellors - I want to hear God’s voice
One of the goals of prayer
Understand how God speaks
The point of prayer is not get my way, but to get God’s way, ALWAYS!
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Aligning our will to God’s
Dad - TV antennas - direct to get a signal
Prayer is tuning into how God speaks
Speaks to listening hearts
He is always speaking - Word
God’s speaking always aligns with His revealed Word
He’s not going to give me direction contrary to His Word
Johnson - dream to leave the church
Does this align with God’s truth?
He begins to bring clarity through circumstances as we follow His Word
Psalm 1
Speaks through His Spirit in our hearts
Speaks through Godly counsellors - safety net
Speaks to listening hearts
Job 33:14
For God speaketh once, Yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.
1 Sam 3:8
And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child.
Listen!
Pray with pure motives
Pray to hear God and not manipulate Him
Can’t fake God out
Pray patiently and persistently
1 Thes 5:17
Pray without ceasing.
Enter into a mode where you continually pray - never hang up the phone
God is more interested in showing Himself to Me, and I’ll lead you
Ps 10:4
The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.
Wicked man - God is not in all his thoughts
Desiring to be in the presence of God
Gen 5:22-24
And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
A - Adoration
C - Confession
T - Thanksgiving
S - Supplication - request
Process - God is not a vending machine - instant answer
Jonathan on one side of the platform - timeline
Painful and beautiful
Stop fretting, stop anxiety
LISTENING!