Get That Whisper Back pt. 2 : Location is Everything | Preston Morrison | Gateway Church

well this weekend we're continuing our series entitled 40 days and we're also continuing the three-part message entitled get that whisper back this is part 2 of that sermon and if you got a Bible waiting to turn to two spots open up to first Kings 19 and put a marker in Matthew chapter 11 we'll start off in 1st Kings 19 each of these three weeks and then we're gonna end this message with Matthew chapter 11 all right first Kings chapter 19 while you're turning there let's just recap what we talked about last week we talked about exhaustion that one of the biggest things that gets in the way of us being able to really hear God's voice clearly is our own exhaustion and some of you might have been listening to the message last week thinking okay but you need to talk more about Jesus why are you talking about exhaustion talk more about Jesus let me hope you understand something and this is gonna be kind of strong to say it in this manner but what good is a follower to Jesus if everyday when Jesus says follow me that follower is too exhausted to do so I know it seems spiritual to say we got more Jesus more Jesus more Jesus that's great but we also need to talk about being at our best as a follower of Jesus so hopefully if you watch last week's message you really did some deep digging in your life to see am i exhausted and if you didn't watch last week's message go back and watch it because that's the first third of this one message get that whisper back this message the subtitle is location is everything location is everything let's continue in first Kings chapter 19 now in verse 7 we covered the first six verses let's move to verse 7 then the angel of the Lord came again and touched Elijah and said get up and eat some more or the journey ahead will be too much for you now last week we said that this is now the second time the angel of the Lord has said this to Elijah get up and eat now he's saying get up and eat because if you don't the journey ahead is gonna be too much remember we talked about last week sometimes the most godly thing you can do is take a nap or get a meal it's not just pray more all right the angel says say there's a big journey ahead of you you need to make sure you eat get up and eat again otherwise this journey is gonna be too much for you verse 8 so he got up ate and drank and the food gave him enough strength to travel 40 days and 40 nights to Mount Sinai the mountain of God there he came to a cave where he spent the night but the Lord said to him what are you doing here Elijah Elijah replied I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty but the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you torn down your altars and killed every one of your prophets I am the only one left and now they are trying to kill me too now what you're going to see between a portion of this message and all of next week's message is the reason I believe God whisked Elijah away from where he was was for one reason to hear God's voice you're gonna see the why in this message you'll see the what next week but as we jump into this message I want us to have a little bit of question time so if you don't have something to write with grab a piece of paper grab a pen or grab your phone and if you're taking notes on your phone I actually want you to physically write this out all right this is an important question that you need to answer at the beginning of this message because this will help you apply what we're talking about in this message okay here's the question I want you to answer it I'm going to give you about 30 to 45 seconds to answer this question when is it hardest for you to hear the Lord speak and why we just take the next 30 or 45 seconds answer this question when is it hardest for you to hear the Lord speak why what makes it so hard when you're in that place alright so just take a few moments and let's all do that together [Music] all right you can keep writing your answer if you need to but I want us to answer another form of this question all right where is the hardest place to hear God speak where is the hardest place to hear God speaking I'm gonna give you two different locations where it's really difficult to hear God's voice because maybe you find yourself today in one of those two spots here's the first spot under the cloud of confusion one of the hardest places to hear God's speak is under the cloud of confusion let me define the word confusion for you it's the state of being bewildered or unclear in one's mind about something it's that back and forth it's that I'm not sure what to do I know if I don't know I don't know that James says it like this there's an instability a man or woman divided between two opinions or two ways of thought is unstable in all of their ways you may not know whether or not you're confused right now one of the ways to know is how stable do you feel if you're experiencing some instability I promise you it's because you're warring between two different mentalities two different opinions it's called confusion if I'm confused it's evidence something is off that's really good news whenever you get confused whenever I get confused it is evidence it's a reminder something's not right something is off and here's why because God does not want you to be confused let me give you scripture for it first Corinthians 14 verse 33 for God is not a God of confusion but of peace God isn't the author of confusion he doesn't want you to be confused so if you feel confused it doesn't make you bad or weak it just means something is off something's not quite right now if God isn't the author of confusion but we all experience some confusion from time to time who is the author of confusion let me show you Ephesians chapter 2 verse 2 according to the Prince of the power of the air the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience okay the Prince of the power of the air I'm gonna give you a picture of this who's that talking about the devil alright so for some of you who give a little bit too much credit to the devil and and you are easily overwhelmed by him I just want to remind you there's a reason the Bible says he's the Prince over the power of the air there's a reason why he's just the Prince because there's only one king he is a little pea Prince there's only one King so the devil is the Prince of the power of the air the unseen realm some theologians would articulate it as and I want I want you to understand this I'll give you the picture have you ever seen in a fire watching in a movie when the smoke fills the top portion of the room and maybe there's about three feet of air space beneath the smoky cloud and we see when as we watch the movie someone crawls on their hands and knees beneath the cloud of smoke so that they do not inhale the unhealthy smoke right and then we see them get to the door they can see better beneath that cloud they can breathe better beneath that cloud and they get to the door and they get out of the burning house well here's how I want you to see your everyday life the enemy is like the smoky cloud of confusion he wants to confuse and if you've ever wondered why does God hate pride so much here's why God hates pride because pride causes you to stand up in a burning house it's the fastest way to fall is to breathe in that unhealthy air it's the fastest way to die in a burning house is to stand up in the cloud where you can't see as clearly you can't breathe as well you're gonna fall ok listen God created us not to grovel on our hands and knees but as followers of Jesus Christ to take a posture of humility just and humility keeps us below this cloud of confusion you want to know one of the most frequent times I experience confusion when I stand up and pride and arrogance and say I know oh I know I've got the idea and I start leaning towards my way going back to what James said divided between two ways my way God's way my way God's way fastest way to be confused is to wake up every day of your life and fight that fight there's gonna be my way is it gonna be God's Way ok listen the devil is the Prince of the power of the air creating a cloud of confusion one of the hardest places to hear God speak is when I stand up in that cloud I can't hear him very clearly at all now before we move into the next difficult location to hear God speak I want us to do a little bit of an assessment and I call this the assessment of isolation all right so I'm gonna put it on the screen and I'm gonna show you three simple questions in essence there's statements and then I want you to choose one of these ways to describe how you feel so the first one I'm content with my friendships and relationships do you strongly agree with that do you kind of agree I don't know neutral disagree strongly disagree I want you just to take about a minute I want you to do just a little bit of personal assessment I want you to figure out okay how where am i how do I feel about these three things okay so read these over and then with your notes however you're writing I want you just to put a description or whatever phrase you'd use right here next to each of these three things alright take a few moments and let's do it together all right as you're wrapping that up I'll keep this up for just one more moment we're gonna score this so that you can really understand a little bit of where you are as it relates to isolation let's show the next screen and here's the scoring system so when you look down at your answers there I want you to put a number next to each of them all right so find which number and then I want you to tabulate or add up the three numbers okay now I want to show you the scale so you can kind of see where you're at as it relates to isolation if you're a zero out of 12 you're incredibly strong let's say you're doing really well relationally okay go all the way to the end if you're a twelve ten eleven twelve you're pretty isolated and here's why this matters okay we're not just doing this to do this here's the second most difficult place to hear God speak on the island of isolation so under the cloud of confusion on the island of isolation one of the most dangerous locations and life is any place where the only voice you hear is yours I want you to think about that for a second that's a powerful truth one of the most dangerous locations in life is any place or the only voice you hear is yours I know many of you know this but I just want to remind us all you and I were created for relationships and and if you wonder why or how that's possible I just want to remind you you were created in the image of God and when God said let us make man in our image he said let us make man God the Father God the Son God the Holy Spirit the very nature of God is God in relationship God the Father God the Son God the Holy Spirit and you were made in their image you were made in His image you're also made in their image let us God said make man make you in their image you were created for relationship another way to say it is one of the most dangerous places you will ever find yourself is on the island of isolation nothing good comes from holding up and isolating yourself all alone you were made for community but I'll go even further than that you were made for Christ like community you were made for the family of God not just any community but Christ's like community here's why Christ like community is the best insurance against confusion listen that this is how I live my life I don't know where you where on the scale but I was at oa1 I'm least isolated and here's why because I've gone through life isolated before and I couldn't sleep well at night because I was carrying everything all by myself I live my life with a lot of others and when I'm I'm feeling weight I on them they carry it with me starting with our elders and my wife I am no good when I am all alone listen to me neither are you and you may not have ever thought about this before but when you're isolated it can get really hard to hear God's voice well Preston I feel like when I'm alone uh-oh you know isolated it's the easiest way for me to hear God's voice here's the problem the longer you're alone the more you might become convinced that every voice you're hearing is God's and when you're all by yourself outside of relationship which you were created for you're gonna start thinking that voice you hear that is yours oh that's God well press on how do I know the voice that I'm hearing is God's and not mine here's one of the best ways to know whose voice you're hearing how often does it lead to you getting your way one of the best ways to know am i hearing God's voice or my voice is if you agree with that voice and everything it says it's probably not God all the time one of the ways I know it's God's voice that I'm hearing is there's a spanking sometimes there's a Preston that's not right you're absolutely wrong on this you think you're right that's wrong let me show you what it takes me to his word okay listen one of the most dangerous locations is any place in life where the only voice you hear is yours proverbs 15 verse 22 says without counsel plans go awry but in the multitude of counselors plans are established proverbs 24 verse 6 says it even a little more clearly for by wise counsel so for many will you will wage your own war and in a multitude of counselors there is safety okay so if there is safety and a multitude of counselors is it safe to say one of the most unsafe places is on the island of isolation where you're always right and your idea always wins yeah it's safe to say that's the most unsafe place the island of isolation now I want to ask one more question if we talk about the hardest place to hear God speak let's go the other side of the coin where is the easiest place to hear God speak where is the easiest place through God speak simple answer next to him the easiest place to hear God's voice is next to him I want to show you something that I felt like this week the Lord really opened my eyes to and revealed and I've never seen it like this before and it's just such an incredible picture I was kind of griping a little bit to the Lord and I have been a little bit over the last couple weeks just about the weight and I'm feeling new weights this is a new era we've kind of stepped into and the rules are a little bit different the methods need to be a little bit different the weight is definitely heavier on many of us and I was just driving to the Lord saying I hate this weight this is getting old it's like every time I get comfortable with the weight you put on me you put more weight on me and I want you to hear what I felt the Lord respond by saying I felt like I said Preston you don't understand my why why I keep putting more weight on you and some of you need to write this little one-liner down that he gave me heavy weight is one of the things I use to keep you close and he said press and go to Matthew 11 I want to show it to you this blew my mind okay so flip over to Matthew chapter 11 Jesus is talking many of you know this passage Matthew chapter 11 starting in verse 28 then Jesus said come to me all of you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest take my yoke upon you let me teach you because I'm humble and gentle at heart and you will find rest for your souls I know many of us when we when we focus on Matthew chapter 11 verse 28 it's and I will give you rest Preston come to me and I will give you rest I will give you rest lay your burdens down take my yoke I will give you rest and here's what I really feel like the Holy Spirit emphasized when showing me this come to me come to me Preston you're feeling heavy like you're carrying more weight that I've put on you come to me in fact the heavier you're feeling this way it is the faster you should run or come to me come to me all of you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens come to me then he says take my yoke upon you get the picture of the yoke for oxen it was never for one it was for at least to a yoke was for two oxen here's what Jesus is saying Preston one of the ways I keep you close as I keep putting more weight on you because you have a tendency when you get a little bit stronger to think you can do it in your own strength and one of the ways I make sure to keep you close is I give you a little more weight to carry because when you feel like it's too heavy you stay closest to me come to me all of you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens now I want to do one more question and then I've got one more verse for you and we'll be done I want you to take a moment and I want you to on a scale of 1 to 10 I want you to answer this question how close do you feel right now in this season of your life on a scale of 1 to 10 how close do you feel to the Lord right now and why it don't beat yourself up just give an honest answer so a little bit of assessment just take the next 15 seconds you don't need a ton of time one is I feel really far 10 I feel really close 10 doesn't make you better than a 1 it's just where are you how close do you feel you are to the Lord right now and why do you feel that one let's take a moment to answer that why why do you feel like you're far if you're far why do you feel like you're close if you're close it's an important question now I want to give you the romantic why behind God sang to you we just read it in Matthew 11 Jesus saying come to me I want you to see the romantic why Psalm 27 verse 8 my heart has heard you say this is speaking to God come and talk with me it's not just come to me it's come and talk with me and look at this next part and my heart responds Lord I'm coming Lord I'm coming do you realize no matter how far away from God you feel right now that the God of the universe is saying to you come away with me honey come away with me come and talk with me see you're thinking about how far I'm a 1 I feel horrible right now cuz I'm a 1 and the god of the universe is saying I don't care we are right now come to me whether you're a 1 whether you're a 10 come closer to me come and talk with me and here is the goal of every follower of Jesus Christ at every day of our lives when we hear the God of the universe calling out to us saying come away with me here's the goal that our hearts would respond by saying Lord I am coming and here's the why because the easiest place to hear God's speak is next to him I want you to bow your heads and close your eyes I want you just to take a moment matter how close or far you feel from God in the season of your life no matter your why behind it I want you just to take a moment in the presence of the Lord he's right where you are and I want you just to draw near maybe you've been running in rebellion turn and run towards him right now come on right there in your heart just run towards them pursue him in your heart right now you don't need me to pray for you you just need to draw closer to the God of the universe Holy Spirit I pray right now that every one of us no matter how close or far we feel pray every one of us would hear cry of your heart towards each one of us right now in this moment come away with me come and talk with me God I pray no matter what they've done this past week matter what mistakes they have made I pray they'd forget about all of that they would turn and run towards you in this moment Jesus name every head bowed and every eye still closed I want to speak to one other person if you can hear my voice right now and you feel the God of the universe calling out to you come to me come to me and you don't know Jesus personally I want you to make a bold step in this moment I want you to decide today's the day you're gonna respond to that call the God of the universe no matter what you've done no matter what you have not done the God of the universe is calling to you right now come to me he's not gonna make you climb some incredible wall he's not gonna make you do something you can't do it's a choice when you hear God saying come to me will you respond and if that's you right now and you'd say I hear it press and I hear that voice I hear God saying come to me it's time it's time if that's you and you're ready I want you just to put your hand up before the Lord it doesn't matter if you're watching this all by yourself to shoot your hand up I hear the god of the universe beckoning me calling out to me come to me come to me pressing I don't fully understand it but I can hear it shoot hand up just put it up anybody else come on you're hearing it you're hearing that voice come to me give your life to me make me the center of your universe no longer yourself come to me anybody else thattaway way to be both every head bowed every eye closed if you just raised your hand I want you to do something now with me I want you to repeat this prayer after me this is the most important prayer you'll ever pray in your life and I'm gonna help you pray okay it's really simple but it's very important all right so just repeat this after me dear Jesus I am responding to your call I hear your voice right now speaking to me personally and I am coming to you and I am giving my life to you I believe you're the son of the Living God who came to this earth to die for me and I believe on the third day God raised you from the dead god I know I need you I've messed up I give you all my mess ups I give you all of my sin I make you the Lord of my life in Jesus name way to go way to go that's what I'm talking about way to make the biggest decision you've ever made in your entire life it's such an incredible moment and I want to ask you to do something if you just prayed that prayer with me I want you to text the name Jesus to the number two four five eight seven would you do that for me I promise we're not gonna spam your inbox or your phone I promise our our heart though is to come alongside of you and maybe you don't have a Bible we want to give you one and we're creating right now a process called new believers calm where we're going to help new believers begin their journey as a follower of Jesus Christ that's our heart we just want to come alongside of you okay so if you just prayed that prayer and you made Jesus Lord of your life you responded his call to come talk to him come away with them would you text that name Jesus - two four five eight seven and you'll get a response from us this week we're so proud of you I'm so proud of you we love you all of heaven celebrating the decision you just made doesn't mean everyone everything is gonna get easier but it does mean the god of the universe is with you and you will get to be with him for all eternity way to go you

Channel: Gateway Church

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Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Preston, Morrison, gateway, church, gateway church, scottsdale, gateway church sermons, church online, scottsdale churches, gateway people, gateway life, Preston Morrison, Robert Morris, Pastor Robert Morris, Pastor Preston Morrison, Preston Morrison sermons, church sermons, online church service, online church, forty days, gateway online, gateway church online, gateway sermons, 40days.com, get that whisper back, exhaustion, i am exhausted, isolation confusion, hearing god

Id: s1bznA0YlqA

Length: 32min 35sec (1955 seconds)

Published: Mon May 25 2020