{"id":10251,"date":"2022-01-16T10:20:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-16T15:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/?post_type=message&p=10251"},"modified":"2022-01-24T10:22:43","modified_gmt":"2022-01-24T15:22:43","slug":"behave","status":"publish","type":"message","link":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/message\/behave","title":{"rendered":"Behave"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Below is an automated transcript of this message<\/h3>\n\n\n\n All <\/i><\/span> right, good morning church! It’s good to be talking to you this morning, wherever you are, wherever you’re watching from, whether it’s on your smartphone, on your laptop or on your big screen tv. You might be watching from your bedroom or from your recliner. We’re having church. We’re happy to be with you today. We wanted to make sure that you were safe and warm today; we are only offering our online services. We did want to make sure that we continued in this important sermon series that we started last week entitled, \u201cMovement.\u201d

\n\u201cMovement\u201d is making disciples that make disciples. Why is it called \u201cmovement?\u201d It’s because 2000 years ago, Jesus told His disciples to go and make disciples of all nations. The church has been on the move ever since because the church is not a place, it’s a people. The church is not a monument, it’s a movement.

\nLast week, we did something kind of unusual <\/i><\/span>. We took a survey and then we talked about, in the sermon, what it means to belong to a movement.

\nThis morning, we’re going to go over the survey a little bit. We won\u2019t go over all of it; we will review some of the parts. Last week, we talked about what it means to belong. This week, we’re going to talk about behaviors and what kind of practices or spiritual disciplines that people that are within this movement practice.

\n252 people responded to the survey over both of our campuses. The average age of our respondents was 42 years old. Here are a few more items of interest that I thought you might find interesting: Our education level turns out that we are a fairly well educated church or at least the 252 that took the survey are from last week. As you can see, most of us have college level education. I <\/i><\/span> see some that have less than high school; that could have been our teams that were taking the survey during the service last week, but we’re a fairly educated church.

\nHow long have people been attending the church? According to your responses, a little over 30% have been attending over 10 years, which says a lot about our church. Our church is a very stable church. You’ll see, if you look at the graph, that people have become part of our church at various times. It’s a pretty good spread. We were excited about that result.

\nHere’s an interesting response that we saw. It was question #7 on the survey last week: \u201cWhich of these best describes your personal understanding of Jesus?\u201d Over 90% said that they saw Jesus as their Savior and as their Lord. We’re happy about <\/i><\/span> that. We had a couple of people respond that Jesus was only a religious figure or a religious teacher. Now, may I say that I would actually be happy if we would have had more people say that, because that means we have more seekers attending their church.

\nHere’s the response that we had from question #9: \u201cWhen you professed faith in Jesus Christ, was this something that happened to you either within this fellowship, this church or outside of this church?\u201d Over 20% said they came to saving faith in Jesus as a result of friendships or being part of Wilson Community Church. We were really encouraged by that.

\nThe next slide that you’ll see appear on your screen has to do with theology and how people responded to some theological questions. Here is one of the questions: \u201cI believe that the bible is the authoritative word of God.\u201d 96% said, \u201cYes, I believe that .\u201d <\/i><\/span> Two people said they don’t believe that to be true. Six people weren’t sure.

\nIn response to the question, \u201cI believe in the Trinity; God in three persons,\u201d almost 99% said \u201cYes. Three people either said \u201cno\u201d or \u201cthey weren’t sure.\u201d 98% believed that Jesus is the only way of salvation. A couple of people said they didn’t believe this to be true.

\nHere’s an interesting response, especially because of what we talked about last week about how you can be sure that you are a believer and that you can be sure of your salvation. But to be fair to you, we actually took this survey before the message. We probably should have asked this question again at the end of the message to see how people would respond. Here\u2019s the question: \u201cIf I were to die today, I am 100% sure that I would enter heaven.\u201d So, <\/i><\/span> 90% said \u201cYes, they were sure.\u201d Six people said they didn’t believe that was true. And seventeen said, \u201cI’m honestly not sure what I believe about this.\u201d If you’re one of those that answered, \u201cI’m not sure,\u201d I hope you learned from last week. If not, go back and watch that message.

\nHere’s the question I really wanted to get to; it’s this question # 13: \u201cHow consistently are you intentionally spending time with God in His word and in prayer each day?\u201d This is the one that we really want to dig down in a little bit. We gave ourselves a 6 out of 10 that was the average if you took all the respondents. We had several that responded lower than this and some that responded higher. I would say that as we look at this, it actually matches up with a troubling trend in our nation. People are saying that they <\/i><\/span> don’t hear from God; they don’t know how to hear from God. As a result, they don’t know how to read the bible for themselves.

\nI will often hear Christians say, \u201cI don’t know how to read the bible and understand it for myself. I don’t know how to hear from God.\u201d In fact, I’ve heard some Christians say, \u201cWhy does God speak to others but He doesn’t speak to me?\u201d I’ve heard others say, \u201cI don’t know if God even still speaks today. I know He spoke to the prophets of old. I know He spoke to the disciples, but does He still speak today?\u201d Others are thinking, \u201cI’m not sure that I’m worthy for God to speak to me. God probably speaks to you, pastor, but I don’t think He speaks to me. He won’t speak to me. I’m not worthy.\u201d

\nWhat do you believe about this? Do you believe that God would speak to you? Are you able to read the bible <\/i><\/span> for yourself and hear God speak to you? Are you able to get a word, get direction, get guidance, get encouragement, get help, get joy, get charged up, get encouraged or get built up? Are you able to do this for yourself? When I say \u201cfor yourself,\u201d I mean with your bible on your knees in prayer. Are you able to hear from God or are you concerned, \u201cNo, I don’t know how to do that,\u201d or \u201cit’s been a while.\u201d

\nWe will be looking at the 130th psalm today. The psalmist described how he sought to hear from the Lord. I believe today that we can hear from the Lord. How is this possible? How can we hear from the Lord? As we look at the text, I think we’ll see three behaviors that will help us hear from the Lord.

\nAs I dig into Psalm 130, I’m getting my phone out just for a second. Those of you that <\/i><\/span> are regular attenders, make sure that you’ve opened up your Church Center App. Go to that first or second slide where it says, \u201cthis Sunday.\u201d You can download the fill in the blank sermon notes right there. You can download the bible app and follow along. I want you to actively follow along just as you would if you were here on Sunday morning. Make sure you’re doing that right now so that you can follow along as I read.

\nPsalm 130:1-6 (ESV) 1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! 2 O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! 3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there isforgiveness <\/i><\/span> that you may be feared. 5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; 6 my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. This is God’s word. Amen.

\nHow to hear from the Lord:\n1. Express your deep desire to hear from God.

\nYou’ll notice at the top of the Psalm, it says \u201cA Song of Ascents.\u201d This is one of the 15 psalms of ascent organized together in the psaltry (Psa. 120-134) to be sung by the saints as they climbed up Mt. Zion to the Temple for worship. They were organized together to give believers as they were climbing up Mt. Zion songs to sing, to prepare their hearts and minds for worship. This particular <\/i><\/span> song has no autograph. We don’t know for sure who wrote it. But boy, it sure reads like a Psalm of David; the fact that’s in a first-person style. Also, because of the way it opens up. It opens up with this phrase, \u201cOut of the depths I cry.\u201d We see that the only other place that this exact phrase is used is in Psalm 69. We see it five other places in the bible, but used as it is here in Psalm 69 which we do know to be a Psalm of David. The idea of saying, \u201cOut of the depths, I cry to you, O Lord!\u201d Usually, it refers to the sea or the ocean as if you were being drowned underwater, that I’m crying to you, I’m drowning and I need you. The psalmist is using it in the poetic sense, in the metaphoric sense, that perhaps he’s drowning in some other way, that that he’s feeling dejected, under deep affliction ,<\/i><\/span> trouble or discouragement. Maybe, it’s just loneliness for God or a hunger for God, but he says, \u201cOut of the depths, I cry to you.\u201d He doesn’t say, \u201cI say to you;\u201d he says, \u201cI cry to you.\u201d This is an expression of the psalmist\u2019s deep desire for God. This is not on your way to work in your automobile saying, \u201cHey God, by the way, I need some help with this, that and the other.\u201d No; this is getting alone, removing distractions and saying, \u201cGod, I need to hear from You today. I have a deep desire to hear from You today. This is the heart’s cry to hear from the Lord.

\nI believe the psalmist has heard before from God. The idea here is I see no expression of doubt that he would hear from God, but he has a heart’s cry to hear from Him on this particular day at this particular time. He <\/i><\/span> needs a fresh word from the Lord.

\nHow about you? Don’t you want to get a fresh word from the Lord? I pray that, even now as I’m speaking to you, the Lord is speaking to you. He can speak to us in many ways. He can speak to us through His word. He can speak to us through the encouragement of other believers.

\nThe book of Romans, chapter one, says that He can even speak to us through creation. He can speak in many ways. Here’s what we believe: God still speaks and God wants to speak to you. He wants to lead, guide and direct your life.

\nNotice in verses 1 and 2, 1 \u201cOut of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! 2 O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!\u201d Isn’t that the best prayer of all? It\u2019s often called the \u201cJesus prayer.\u201d It’s the shortest prayer of all; \u201cLord Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner .\u201d <\/i><\/span> Hear my plea, which is my supplication for favor; I’m earnestly and humbly coming to you if you want to hear from God. He responds to your deep desire to hear from Him; not in just a flippant way, going through the motions. Not in a ritualistic approach, but to really desire to hear from Him. This is a prayer of desire and expectation.

\nNotice what it says in Psalm chapter 27 This is the psalmist praying here. Psalm 27:7-8 (ESV) 7 \u201cHear, O Lord, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me! 8 You have said, \u201cSeek my face.\u201d My heart says to you, \u201cYour face, Lord, do I seek.\u201d Do you hear this? God has invited you to seek His face. This is what the psalmist is reminding the Lord of in Psalm 27. He prays to Him, Lord hear me because you invited me to talk to You, that if I would seek Your face, that You would hear me and <\/i><\/span> I would hear from You.

\nGod is not offended when you pray His word back to Him. In fact, I think He loves it. Just think of this, mom or dad, when your son or daughter repeat back to you something that you’ve taught them. This doesn’t offend you. In fact, it encourages you that they’re learning from you and it deepens your love and respect for each other mutually.

\nThe psalmist says to the Lord here, 8 You have said, \u201cSeek my face.\u201d My heart says to you, \u201cYour face, Lord, do I seek.\u201d The Lord wants you to seek His face. I’m not coming to you saying today that you’re being asked, as a believer, to do something unusual, something unheard of. No, this is the most normal thing of all for a believer. Yet, according to national surveys, very few people report that they’re able to read the bible for themselves and hear from God in prayer for themselves. Why is this ? <\/i><\/span> It’s a troubling statistic because people don’t realize, believers don’t realize, God wants to speak into your life. He wants you to have a deep desire for Him and to seek Him.

\nJeremiah 29:13 (ESV) You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.\nNow, I have to admit to you that I’m just as human as you are. I have a busy schedule every week. Sometimes, I put God in a place priority wise that doesn’t fit in the first place in my life on a day- to- day basis or sometimes I’m in a hurry. I do have a spiritual discipline; I have a habit of starting every morning by reading the bible and talking to God, but I can’t say that I always express a deep desire. It’s hard to control your own heart, isn’t it? When I’m over my head, when I’m in <\/i><\/span> the deep depths, it’s easier to cry out and say out of the depths, \u201cI cry out to you.\u201d When I’m struggling. I know where to go.

\n Do you know where to go? Do you know how to remove the distractions, get somewhere and say, \u201cLord, I’m going to cry out to You until You answer me. I’m not going to stop. I need a word from You.\u201d If you really desire to hear from someone, you will remove distractions. If you really want to grow in a relationship with someone, you’ll talk to them regularly and often. You’ll not only talk, but you’ll listen and you’ll be quiet as you listen and reflect on it.

\nAs a husband, and maybe other husbands can relate to this, I can have a one track kind of linear thinking. If I’m watching a sporting event on television or something and it <\/i><\/span> is right at a key moment, it always seems to be the moment when my sweet wife will come in to ask me something. She will come in from the other room to ask me something and I’ll be moving my head around trying to make sure she’s not standing in front of the television while I’m trying to watch some key play take place. I know by my nonverbal that I’m expressing to her, what I’m watching on tv is more important than you right now. Then, she’ll say, \u201cI need to ask you something.\u201d I will reply, \u201cWait for this play to go by\u201d and then she’ll wait and tell me. Hopefully as I’m getting older and have been married a lot longer, I’m starting to learn that this is a ridiculous thing to say. My wife is more important than that moment. I’m learning to just hit \u201cpause\u201d or cut it off. We have all of this high <\/i><\/span> tech stuff now. You can save the moment; you can save it and watch it later. I will say to her, \u201cwhat do you want to talk about?\u201d I’m sure women might have the same struggles. I know my own struggles and that’s just in a human relationship, but what about your relationship with God? What about removing the distractions so God won’t compete for your attention? Express your deep desire for Him.

\nHow to hear from the Lord:\n2. Pray according to your new standing in Christ.

\nNow, I want us to look at the next stanza. It’s been helpful as I looked at this, some that the stanzas lended themselves to our three behaviors. But the <\/i><\/span> second stanza, which is verse three and four of Psalm 130, 3 \u201cIf you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?\u201d It’s a rhetorical question. If God kept record of our sins and kept the record against us, none of us could stand before Him. Who could stand? No one. That’s what he’s saying. When I’m coming to You in prayer, if You kept record of all of my wrongs, all of my sins, all of my failures, I couldn’t even talk to You. I couldn’t even enter this place. But, notice what he says, \u201cIf you, oh Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?\u201d That’s an important word right there.

\n4 \u201cBut with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.\u201d That seems a strange conclusion there, unless you understand the other implication of the word, \u201cfear,\u201d because it <\/i><\/span> also implies respect or reverence. I think uh that might be more in order in the context here. \u2018But with you there is forgiveness that you may be revered, that you may be held in awe, that you may be worshiped.\u2019 It seems to be more in view in the context of the psalmist’s writing prior to the cross; writing in the Old Testament. Now, we stand on the other side of the cross and in Christ. There are no sins if you’re a believer today and you know Jesus; all of your sins have been nailed to the cross, nailed to the tree that He was nailed to. He marks no sins against you. You have a new standing; you’ve been forgiven.

\nRomans 5:1-2 (ESV) 1 \u201cTherefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand.\u201d We <\/i><\/span> have a new standing in Christ. We have a new access; we have the same access to the Father that Christ has because we are in Christ and He is in us. We can talk to the Father and He hears us. Not only does He hear us, but He speaks. We have the same access as Jesus because we are in Him and He is in us. We can pray according to this new standing that we have in Christ.

\nFriends, what is it with us that we don’t take advantage of this new standing? Oh my goodness, we take for granted this access. Remember what Jesus told his disciples in John 14:13 (ESV) \u201cWhatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.\u201d This is Jesus inviting us to use His name and prayer. \u2018Hey, when you talk to the Father, just remind Him that I sent you. Just sign My name to the check. Whenever you write a <\/i><\/span> check of grace or forgiveness to someone, just sign My name.\u2019 He gives permission, He says to go ahead and use His name, His authority. We are His and He is ours.

\nHe teaches us to pray in His name. He tells us something else; He tells His disciples this in John 10:27 (ESV) \u201cMy sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.\u201d Let\u2019s break this down; if you’re His, you’ll hear Him. You’ll have spiritual ears to hear. \u2018My sheep hear my voice and I know them. I’m in a relationship with them and they follow me.\u2019 You can boldly come into God\u2019s presence with your prayer request because of your access through Jesus.

\n3 \u201cIf you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?\u201d There’s a repentant humility here as we come before the Lord. We thank Him for Jesus. We thank Him for our redemption. We don’t have to come <\/i><\/span> in feeling unworthy to hear from God because, even though we in ourselves are unworthy, in Jesus, He has made us worthy. He has made us children of God.

\nAs Paul reminds us in Romans 8:15, we can pray \u201cAbba, Father.\u201d Daddy, father, that intimate relationship you have access to the Father when you pray. Because of Jesus, God has been brought near to you, that you’re able to pray \u201cAbba.\u201d You’re able to cry out to Him. You have this new standing with Him that whenever you pray to Him, He hears you and He wants to speak to you.

\nWe have this second behavior. The first was to express your deep desire to hear from God, remove distractions, cry out to Him and speak from your heart, not with memorized prayers or ritualistic responses, but from your heart and then to recognize your new access in Jesus and to have an expectation that you will hear from Him. the <\/i><\/span>

\nHow to hear from the Lord:\n3. Wait in hopeful expectation for God to speak.

\nWe are in verses five and six now. The third stanza of Psalm 130 says, The psalmist writes, \n5 \u201cI wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; 6 my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.\u201d Notice that prayer and the word go hand in hand when you want to hear from God. He says, \u201cin his word I hope.\u201d I hope in your word, Lord.I hope. I have a hopeful expectation because You’ve promised that if we seek You with all of our heart that we’ll find You. You’ve promised that You’ll speak to us. I put my hope in what You’ve said. I wait for the Lord. I wait patiently but with hopeful expectation. I don’t wait passively. I wait actively, with my ears tuned to hear from You.

\nI’ve noticed something, that if we begin the day talking to the Lord, we ask Him a question about a <\/i><\/span> direction in our life for some decision that’s pressing in on our lives, we start the day, we pray but, maybe we don’t hear yet. We read His word, we pray, we listen. Then, as the day goes on, it still resonates in our soul. You see, whether you’re watching something on TV or something on social media, you’re driving down the road, you see a sign, somebody speaks to you at work or at school, it’s like everything now is through the lens of that question you’ve asked God. It’s like He puts a spiritual filter in your mind so that you’re open to hear how He responds because God still speaks. He uses many ways to speak to us, but we must wait in hopeful expectation. In other words, we must say, \u201cI believe He’s going to speak to me, I’m going to listen. I’m going to wait patiently but not passively with expectation and hope because He promised in His word that He would. I’m going to <\/i><\/span> wait.\u201d

\nThe psalmist says, \u201cI wait.\u201d He says, \u201cI wait for the Lord, my soul waits.\u201d I think that’s my deepest place; I wait. Verse six says, \u201cmy soul waits for the Lord.\u201d Then, he tells you how his soul waits. He says, \u201cmore than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.\u201d It’s a beautiful repetition here in the Psalm.

\nWhat’s a watchman? A watchman might be someone who’s watching over the flock, a shepherd who got the night shift and so he’s waiting for the sun to come up. It might be a guard at one of the gates around the city of Jerusalem during this time period. He’s got guard duty. He’s got the fourth watch . <\/i><\/span> Do you know how he knows? He gets off work when the sun comes up. He knows that as far as I can recollect, since I’ve been born, the sun always comes up and so I wait in hopeful expectation because I know the sun will come up. I’m not sure exactly when it’s going to come up, but I’m watching for that sun to start peeking over the horizon and when it comes up, I’m off duty and I’m going home.

\nThe psalmist says, I’m waiting for the Lord to respond to me, but I’m not waiting passively. I’m watching over the horizon for the sun to come up and I know the sun will come up because it always does. It always has in the past. And I know it’s going to come up. I wait with hopeful expectation. I expect Him to answer me. He’s the Lord and I know He’ll answer me. My waiting is not passive <\/i><\/span>. My waiting is active. I’m watching and waiting. I’m listening. I’m looking at everything around me to see if this is Your answer. Is this how You answer me today? My hope is in Your word like watchmen for the morning. God promises that He will answer us. We can place our faith in His promise, in His word.

\nJeremiah 33:3 (ESV) \u201cCall to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.\u201d The Lord loves us so much. \u201cCall to me and I will answer you.\u201d I’ll tell you things you didn’t know. I’ll reveal Myself to you and I will help you call to Me. Who is this God Who loves us so much that He would invite us into such an intimate relationship that He invites us through His word. Call to me, Cry out to me, seek me with all your heart and you <\/i><\/span> will find me. Call to Me and I will answer you.

\nHow does God speak? He speaks in many ways, but I would say the primary way He speaks to me, because I’ve been a student of His word for most of my life, I will hear in my head God refer to a passage that I’ve read before or one verse that I’ve memorized. I’ll ask Him, \u201cLord, are you telling me to go look there?\u201d I’ll go look and then I’ll feel the Holy Spirit’s fire. I don’t know how else to describe it. When I read the passage that He led me to, that’s my answer. That’s what He wants me to know about this situation or about this direction. It has taken a while; it’s taken a few years of a relationship with the Lord to learn how He speaks <\/i><\/span> to me. Because I can somehow sometimes be doubtful, I will usually pray something like this, \u201cLord, is it You talking or is it me talking? Because it’s in my head,it’s in my own voice; it\u2019s sounds like something I would say to me. Usually, if it’s something I don’t want to do or it drives me out of my comfort zone, I’ll usually not even ask that question. I will say, Lord, \u201cI know that’s You because I would never ask myself to do that.\u201d I’ve learned to hear His voice; I have to make room for it. Sometimes, if I’m still confused about whether or not it is His voice, I will ask for confirmation from His word because God never speaks contrary to His written word. He never does. You don’t have to go to Him and pray, \u201cGod, can I go sin this sin?\u201d because He’ll never say \u201dyes\u201d <\/i><\/span> to that. He’ll never go against His word.

\n2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV) 16 \u201cAll Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.\u201d God uses His word to equip us; He uses it to speak to us.

\nI would say the primary way that God speaks to us is through His \u201clove letter;\u201d\nHis word. Go to His word in the morning, or whatever time of day that is your habit, and read His word. Sometimes people will say, \u201cHow much should I read?\u201d I say, \u201cRead until God speaks.\u201d As you begin to read, say, \u201cGod, I’m about to read Your word. Holy Spirit, help me to understand what I’m reading and and draw my attention to <\/i><\/span> that which You want me to give attention to. Lord, speak to me as I read your word.\u201d I believe God will hear that prayer and He will answer it.

\nRead until He speaks. If you read one verse and your heart catches fire, you could stop, meditate on that one verse and say, \u201cLord help me apply this now to my life.\u201d Maybe, you have to read a chapter or two, but read until God speaks. He primarily speaks through His word. Sometimes He speaks through other means.

\nHe often speaks to us through his Holy Spirit who reminds us. John 14:26 (NLT)\u201dBut when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative\u2014that is, the Holy Spirit\u2014he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.\u201d This is Jesus speaking about the Holy Spirit and how He’ll speak to us and how He dwells in us, lives in us and reminds us of what Jesus has said . <\/i><\/span> The Holy Spirit will speak to you.

\nWe could keep reading from other places in the scripture. Hebrews 1:1,2 \u201cLong ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.\u201d God still speaks.

\n If you go back in the Old Testament, there’s this prophet named Balaam that God used a donkey to speak to him. God will speak to you. Sometimes we just won’t listen. If we wait with expectation and we feel the Holy Spirit speaking to us, we go back to His word and ask, \u201cLord, I need confirmation here.\u201d You may go to a Christian that’s older than you in the Lord, that’s been a Christian longer than you, and you may tell him that you feel like the Lord is speaking to <\/i><\/span> you to go in this direction, to make this decision, to make this adjustment in your life or follow this calling. You ask that person to pray for you and look for confirmation.

\nThe book of Proverbs says that there is wisdom in the council of many. If you really want to know God’s will for your life and hear from God, wait with hopeful expectation, trust His word, and trust God’s people. With these things together, God will give you an affirmation. He’ll give you confirmation.

\nWe were preaching through 1 Samuel a year or so ago. There was a young man named Samuel who was living in the Tabernacle. He had been basically adopted by the prophet Eli. One night, he kept waking up hearing someone saying, \u201cSamuel Samuel.\u201d Every time, he’d wake up and run into the prophet Eli\u2019s bedroom. He would say, \u201cMaster, do <\/i><\/span> you need me?\u201d Eli would say, \u201cNo son, I didn’t. I wasn’t calling.\u201d Samuel would go back to bed. This happened three times. Finally, on the third time, Eli says to Samuel, \u201cIt’s not me, son. It must be the Lord. The next time you hear it again, you say to the Lord, \u201cHere I am Lord ,speak.\u201d The fourth time,, the Lord spoke to him again saying, \u201cSamuel, Samuel.\u201d Samuel said to the Lord, \u201cSpeak Lord, your servant is listening.\u201d

\nHave you ever said that? You talked to the Lord, you prayed and got quiet for a minute. That’s the part we often forget about in prayer. Prayer is supposed to be a two way conversation. It’s not just supposed to be your \u201claundry list\u201d and then you move on, Amen. There should be a moment of listening. Lord, your servant is listening. Speak, Lord, speak and then listen.

\nOne way that we teach <\/i><\/span> our people to learn to do this is through the acronym S. O. A. P. We’ve taught this at many of our retreats through the years and even on Sunday mornings. Some of you know about this acronym. The S stands for scripture. The O stands for observation. You read the scripture and then you make observations. Maybe, you have a S.O.A.P. journal; you keep a journal with your bible and you make some observations. You ask questions of the text: Who’s speaking? Where is this happening? How did this work out? The A is application; how do you apply this to your life? The <\/i><\/span> A stands for application. God, how do You want me to apply this to my life? P stands for prayer. Perhaps you might try S.O.A.P when you get up in the morning. Try using that method and say, \n\u201cLord, your servant is listening, speak to me.\u201d You can learn to hear from God on a daily, even a moment by moment basis. This is the new lifestyle, the new behavior of the one who follows Jesus Christ. Jesus says, \u201cMy sheep know my voice and I know them and they follow me.\u201d Will you learn to express your deep desire to hear from God. to cry out from the depths of your <\/i><\/span> deep desire, to say, \u201cLord, I want to know You better. I want to hear from You.\u201d You learn to pray according to your new standing in Christ and then wait in hopeful expectation for God to speak as watchmen who wait for the morning.

\nLet’s pray. Lord, I first of all, pray for the one who might be far from You today. Is that you my friend? Maybe you’re listening right now. You’re watching online and you’ve never given your life to Jesus. You can do it right now. Just pray with me. Pray like this, \u201cDear Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner. I’ve made so many mistakes with my life, but Lord today I give my life to You. I believe You died on the cross for my sins, that You were raised from the grave and that You live today. Come and live in me, make me the kind of person You want me to be, I want to follow You.\u201d If you’re praying that prayer right now, believing, the Lord will save you and He will give you eternal life <\/i><\/span>. He will make you a child of God, so that when you pray, your Father will respond. Others are here and you know the Lord as your Savior, but you’re one of those people who have said, \u201cI have trouble reading the bible for myself. I have trouble praying.\u201d Start with a deep expression of desire. Say \u201cGod, I want to hear from You. I want to seek You.\u201d Remove distractions, find a place in your calendar, in your daily life, in your home, wherever you’re at. Some place where you can be alone with God. You say, \u201cLord, this is Your child. Speak to me, your servant is listening.\u201d Let us be a church, let us be a people who don’t just talk about our faith but we walk it out by hearing from You, that we are Yours and You speak to us and we follow you. You are the great shepherd . <\/i><\/span> You are the pastor of this church. Lord, I thank You now for this opportunity to preach Your word. I thank You for Your flock. Lord, I pray that we would be a people on the move, marching according to Your direction. In Jesus\u2019 name. Amen. \n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, we learned how to be sure that we belong to this movement. This week, we\u2019re going to focus on one of the chief behaviors, or spiritual disciplines, of those who are part of Christ\u2019s disciple-making movement. What is this behavior or practice? It\u2019s the habit of daily seeking to hear from God through prayer and through reading His Word.<\/p>\n

I have heard some Christians say, \u201cWhy does God speak to others but not to me?\u201d Some actually don\u2019t think they are worthy for God to speak to them. Or they question whether God still speaks today. What do you believe? Do want to hear God speak to you? In the 130th Psalm, the psalmist described how he sought to hear from the Lord. We can hear from the Lord.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":10227,"template":"","tags":[2277,2024],"series":[2854],"scripture-book":[1286],"scripture-chapter":[1463],"speaker":[2007],"class_list":["post-10251","message","type-message","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-devotions","tag-discipleship","series-movement","scripture-book-psalms","scripture-chapter-1463","speaker-gary-combs"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/message\/10251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/message"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/message"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/message\/10251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10251"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=10251"},{"taxonomy":"scripture-book","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/scripture-book?post=10251"},{"taxonomy":"scripture-chapter","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/scripture-chapter?post=10251"},{"taxonomy":"speaker","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/speaker?post=10251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}