How To Hear God's Voice | 1 Kings 19 | Austin Hamrick

for tonight we are in first kings chapter 19. you all there if you're there let me see those bibles above the head bible's above the head or phones but you better be reading your bibles on those phones all right all right first kings chapter 19. a little bit of context before we dive into our study there are two main predominant people in our study tonight one is named elijah and one is named ahab now ahab is the king of israel elijah is the prophet of israel all right everybody on the same page we've got ahab king of israel elijah prophet of israel ahab is a bad guy wicked dude uh does not follow the true god of israel yahweh the god of the bible does not worship or follow after him he worships and follows the god baal or if you want to be really hebrew uh linguistically it's all right but we'll go with baal for for our study today ahab he's the king of israel but he doesn't follow the god of israel he follows this pagan god his name is baal elijah he is this godly prophet and he follows the true god yahweh the god of israel the god of our bible and there's this showdown on mount carmel here's a picture of a view uh on mount carmel um this is a picture that we took i i didn't personally take it but um we've taken on our trips to israel and it's a beautiful view as you just stand on this mountaintop and you just look out over the landscape of israel quick plug we're going on an israel trip again august of 2021 save up now and go with us on our trip in august but it is the trip of a lifetime so you gotta go but this is mount carmel here at least this is the view if you're standing on top of the mountain this is where this story goes down right here so we have elijah the godly prophet and we have ahab the ungodly king and there's a showdown that goes on top of this mountain here and basically what elijah does is elijah says all right let's just settle this once and for all let's just see today who is the true god so what i want you to do bale or hell what i want you to do ahab who follows baal what i want you to do ab is i want you to set up this altar in this sacrifice make a sacrifice on top of this altar for baal and if baal the god that you uh follow if baal consumes this altar in this sacrifice with fire then i'll give it to you then baal is god but i'm gonna do the same thing i'm gonna set up my own altar i'm going to put a sacrifice on top of it i'm going to fill it in with water and i'm going to douse the sacrifice with water but if my god yahweh the god of the bible if that god shows up and consumes the sacrifice with fire then he is god so they have this showdown ahab and the prophets of baal they make this altar and this sacrifice to baal and they start calling out to baal they start calling upon him and nothing's working bale isn't showing up so they get more desperate they go to more severe extremes and they start cutting themselves which was a pagan ritual that they would do to call upon their gods and they were calling upon baal but no show elijah actually starts to intimidate them it's pretty funny and then elijah he says okay it's my turn he sets up this sacrifice on this altar and he tells the man i just want you to douse it with water i don't want there to be to be any other options here that this was a work of god so douse this bad boy with water and then my god's gonna show up and so in first kings it says that elijah when he when he makes the altar in the sacrifice that he prays for the lord and he calls upon the name of god and then it says that the heavens open and this fire just pours down from heaven and completely consumes the altar licks up the water consumes the sacrifice completely burns up the wood that he used to make the altar there's nothing left there except just a hole in the ground and so the people that are around on mount carmel that that see this they basically just bow to the true god and and they resolve to put away their pagan idolatry to stop following baal and they repent they fall at the feet of god and they they repent of their sin and the bible then says that because the priests of baal they they led the israelites astray that elijah actually executes all those priests but then here we get to our story is ahab has a wife and her name is jezebel and and she's let's just say she she's a piece of work and she gets so upset with elijah that she wants to get after him and seeks to take his life and elijah when he hears that jezebel ahab's wife is so furious with him that she wants to kill him he does what every strong brave courageous man of god does he runs and he hides in a cave and maybe that makes it a little bit more manly okay he's like i'm running and i'm hiding but it's in a cave so it's a little bit more gruff and and manly so it kind of compensates but this is where we enter our story here first kings chapter 19 elijah just has this amazing showdown on mount carmel flees jezebel because he's afraid because she's after his life he flees runs away and he's hiding in this cave so look with me in verse 9 of chapter 19. verse 9 of chapter 19 it says and there elijah there he went into a cave and spent the night in that place and behold the word of the lord came to him and said to him what are you doing here elijah so he said i've been very zealous for the lord god of hosts for the children of israel have forsaken your covenant tore down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword i alone am left and they seek to take my life and then god said go out and stand on the mountain before the lord and behold the lord passed by and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks and pieces before the lord but the lord was not in the wind and after the wind and earthquake but the lord was not in the earthquake and after the earthquake of fire but the lord was not in the fire and after the fire a still small voice so it was when elijah heard it that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave and suddenly a voice came to him and said what are you doing here elijah and he said i've been very zealous for the lord god of hosts because children of israel have forsaken your covenant tore down your altars and killed your prophets with a sword i alone am left and they seek to take my life but then the lord said to him go return on your way to the wilderness of damascus and when you arrive anoint hazael as king over syria also you shall anoint jehu son of nimshi as king over israel and elisha the son of shephard of abel mahola you shall anoint as prophet in your place it shall be that whoever escapes the sword of haziel jehu will kill and whoever escapes the sword of jehu elisha will kill yet i have reserved seven thousand in israel all whose knees have not bowed to baal and every mouth that has not kissed him let's pray and then we'll dive in lord before we dive into our study i just pray that you would visit us lord and that you would be here now we're so grateful to be able to open up your word in freedom and to study it lord and now we just pray that you would do your part lord that you would open our hearts that you would open our hears our ears to hear lord convict us where there needs conviction encourage us whether it needs encouragement lord help us to daily surrender our lives to you so we come before you now and we commit everything to you and we ask that you'd speak to us in jesus name we pray and all god's people said amen i want to title tonight's bible study how to hear god's voice how to hear god's voice i want to talk to us about hearing from the lord the lord speaking to us and how can we learn to discern god's voice so what happened here and what we just read elijah he's hiding in this cave right and then it says that god calls elijah to the entrance of the cave and it says that a severe wind passed by but the lord wasn't in the wind and then it says in verses 9 through 12 that an earthquake a great earthquake passed by rocks broke very miraculous event earthquake happened mountain shook elijah sees this but it says that god was not in the earthquake and then it says a great fire passed by but it says the lord wasn't in the fire and then it says the lord spoke to elijah through a still small voice a still small voice here's a question i often see why does it seem like god spoke audibly all the time in the bible but he seems silent now or in other words does god still audibly speak to us today and you know the bible records a lot of different occasions where god spoke audibly to people on many occasions in exodus chapter 3 god spoke to moses through a burning bush in joshua chapter one when joshua is the new leader of the israelites god audibly speaks to joshua be strong and very courageous he tells joshua in the book of judges in jesus chapter 6 it says that god audibly spoke to gideon that gideon has this conversation with the lord at first samuel chapter 3 we see a young little samuel he he hears audibly from god samuel samuel samuel first thinks it's the the priest eli but then he comes to realize that this was actually god audibly speaking to him in acts chapter 9 you remember paul or saul at that time he was on his way to damascus when then he was blinded by the glorious light of jesus and he has this conversation with jesus and jesus audibly speaks to saul saul why are you persecuting me and so we see all throughout scripture god audibly speaking to people but but what about today why does it seem that god is silent today why doesn't god seem to still speak to us audibly well there's no biblical reason why god doesn't or couldn't speak to a person audibly today but here's what we need to remember whenever when when anyone asks that question god spoke all throughout the bible audibly why doesn't he speak to us today but you have to keep in mind that those different instances those few times that we see god speaking audibly to his people it's over a span of 4 000 years of human history and so when we see we look at scripture and we we thumb through scripture and we see god audibly speaking well it takes us a mere manner of minutes to thumb through our bibles and see all these different occasions but we're thumbing through 4 000 years of human history so god audibly speaking two people was always the exception it was never the rule it was always the exception it was never the rule but then we get frustrated god why especially when we're making big decisions god why can't i hear from you clearly where is your voice i just read exodus chapter three you spoke to moses audibly you spoke to joshua audibly but why can't i hear you or why can't i discern your voice well god speaking audibly was always the exception in scripture it wasn't it wasn't the ordinary i can tell you from my personal experience i've never audibly heard god's voice i i thought i did when i was a kid but actually just my dad telling me to clean my room those couple times dad was upstairs austin lord clean your rooms like dad gosh all right but i've never audibly heard god's voice so when i when i talk to you tonight about hearing god's voice i'm not coming from it at the standpoint of listen i'm just going to present you some biblical principles and if you just learn to follow these principles it will unlock god's audible voice to your life all right now i have heard people personally tell me that they have audibly heard god speak to them i'm not discrediting that i wholeheartedly wholeheartedly believe that god can still audibly speak to whomever he chooses and so i've heard people say that they've heard god's audible voice just not my testimony personally if it's yours then that's amazing i'd love to know what god sounds like but when i speak to you tonight about hearing god's voice i'm not just saying hear my heart that if you just do a b c d you you will hear god's audible voice okay most of the time when god speaks to me and what i mean by that when i'm teaching tonight god speaks to you and god speaks to people i'm talking about how god will gently impress something upon your heart how god will gently correct me how god will gently instruct me or gently guide me by impressing things upon my heart by his spirit or things upon my mind by his word and so this is what i mean when i'm sharing when i'm gonna present some biblical principles about how to hear god's voice this is this is the manner in which i speak about how god yes he he still can there's no biblical reason why he can't still audibly speak but most of the time because that was the exception never the rule most of the time when god speaks it will be by this gentle instruction on your heart and on your mind but i first want you to hear from me tonight that god desires to speak to you god desires to speak to each and every one of you many of you have this idea of god that he's so far off and so unattached to your world that why would god ever want to speak to me i can tell you from scripture that god desires to speak to you and he desires to speak to you tonight and i pray that as we study some biblical principles that your heart would be open and that you would actually just feel god impressing things upon your heart by gently instructing you and expressing his love to you by his holy spirit god desires to speak to you john 14 6 jesus said this but the helper the holy spirit whom the father will send in my name he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that i've said to you so god desires to speak to you now why why does god desire to speak to us well it's a part of the great privilege that we have in this relationship you are a son or a daughter of the king by nature of your relationship with him he wants to speak to you and he wants you to speak to him and it's the privilege that we get to enjoy in this relationship with our heavenly father this is why god desires to speak to you so that you can grow in him and glorify him while you're here on earth in all your ways so that he can guide you and direct you that he can use you for his glory and for your good god desires to speak to you now most people want to hear god's voice as i mentioned when they're facing big decisions a marriage or an engagement or a new job or a career switch god i just want to hear from you i need to hear your voice why can't i hear from you how do i hear your voice god i'm gonna go through a couple of biblical principles that i hope will encourage you tonight number one how do i hear god's voice well first off we gotta we gotta get this clear straight away you must belong to him you must belong to him in john 8 47 jesus said this he said whoever belongs to god hears what god says whoever belongs to god hears what god says the reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to god god speaks to his kids you see i usually don't make a habit or a pattern of spending much time with or talking to other people's kids that would be a little weird wouldn't it i i speak to my kids i'm close with my kids they're close with me they speak with me i speak to them all right unless you're like a nanny or uh you know a babysitter or you work with kids okay then you're you're spending time with other people's kids but but but for most of us or some of us or for me i usually don't make a habit of spending time with other people's kids i would just be creepy okay i spend time with my kids and my kids spend time with me now let's get this straight god reveals himself to everyone god reveals himself to everyone and is speaking to unsaved people in that way god reveals himself to everyone paul says that god reveals himself through creation in the book of romans god paul says also that god reveals himself to people and speaks to people through his written word because all are welcome into his family everyone's welcome god reveals himself to everyone because he desires that no one perishes but that all repent and come into this relationship with him so god reveals himself to everyone but he only speaks to his kids in this relational sense where we're speaking to god and god is speaking to us and we're guided by his spirit who is within us and he's oppressing impressing things on our hearts and on our minds through his word and we're growing in this relationship that's that's for a relationship a a father son a father-daughter relationship god speaks to his kids and so you have to belong to him and i just want to encourage you straight up before we head into some more biblical principles if you don't belong to him all are welcome into this family if you simply just forsake your sin repent and trust in christ believe that he died on the cross for your sins and rose again then god says you are given the right of sonship of daughtership you have been now co you have come now into his family and so if you don't belong to him tonight because you've never made that decision to repent and trust christ as your savior do that because you want to enjoy the benefits not of just eternity but you want to enjoy the benefit of a relationship with god here on earth where he's speaking to you and he's revealing self himself to you on a deeper level so to hear god's voice number one you must belong to him how to hear god's voice number two get alone with him get along with him and i just want to park it here for just a little bit because i think that this point can be extremely overlooked but get alone with god in verses 10 and 14 in the passage we read it says that elijah twice tells god that he's all alone god says elijah what are you doing here what's wrong and he says i'm all alone i'm the only one who's serving you i'm the only prophet left i'm the only guy left who's following after you i just feel all alone i feel lonely most of you probably heard of like a midlife crisis right it's probably like for our parents right but how many of you actually have heard of what's called a quarter life crisis for like ages 20 to thirty there was this interesting study done actually on people who are having quarter life crisis an is interesting study done that this article described this phenomenon that can strike any time during your twenties your early 30s and it's this dawning realization that you've reached the age by which you assumed you would have everything figured out only now to realize like you don't you don't have anything figured out and so the quarter life crisis crisis it creeps up usually around like birthdays or new year's day or it rears its head anytime you see on social media that someone you used to be close with now got engaged or they got this promotion you're just sitting there you're like what is going on what about what about me and so it's this une uneasy realization that comes when you kind of take stock of everything around you all the people and the places the relentless routines of work and you just wonder is this it is this all there is the networking website linkedin they actually did this survey and they found out that 75 all right 75 of 25 to 33 year olds report having a quarter life crisis 75 along with a quarter life crisis can come different feelings along with a quarter life crisis you can feel rootless was what they said number one basically you're not sure where you belong you're not sure where you fit number two they said you can feel paralyzed because you're not exactly sure where to go you see all these changes in your life your friends are moving your old high school friends are you're all going in different paths in different directions you're seeing people make all these different decisions so you have different options open but you're not exactly sure where to go or which step to take and so it paralyzes you you don't end up making any decisions because you're afraid to make the wrong ones number three they said that when you have a quarter life crisis you can feel lonely you feel isolated we move through our 20s our relationships are all in a state of flux one recent study said that more people in their 20s reported feeling lonely than did those 75 and older and so this feeling of loneliness can set in and maybe you'd say you know i i feel lonely i wouldn't necessarily identify myself as having a quarter life crisis that's a little bit severe but yeah in my current season i would say there are definitely bouts of loneliness where i feel lonely i used to have close friends kind of going in different directions now i have a roommate we don't really know each other that well whatever the case may be so yeah i would i would relate to this i feel a little bit lonely at times let me just encourage you that many people throughout scripture felt lonely moses noah joseph jesus felt lonely the bible says he got alone with the lord all of his friends abandoned him in the garden peter felt lonely paul felt lonely imprisoned and so here we come to a guy named elijah he's in this cave he says god i'm all alone i'm the only one i don't know what to do i don't know where to where to go i don't even know why i'm on the run i just i feel alone and so god calls elijah says come come to the face of the cave it says that a severe wind passed by lord wasn't in that severe earthquake passed by lord wasn't in that severe enormous fire passed by the lord wasn't in that but the lord was in a still small voice you might say i feel like i'm the only christian in my workplace i feel like i'm the only christian in my family i always feel alone let me just tell you whether you're identifying with this quarter life crisis or not feeling lonely it's okay feeling lonely it's normal in fact i would actually say that if you're a christian and you never at times feel lonely i would say you're in a dangerous place because it kind of tells me that you're a little bit too comfortable in this world and the bible says that this world is not our home but that our true citizenship and our true home is in heaven so if you're a christian you should expect some times where you feel lonely because you're always going against the grain of culture you're not easily buying or being persuaded into the cultural trends that you know go against scripture and so here is how you can respond to loneliness you can either respond to loneliness in one of two ways you can fight loneliness by attempting just to fit in with whatever crowd you find yourself in in the moment or you can embrace it you can embrace the loneliness and use it as a time to really search out the word of god and allow god to speak to you i've got to tell you that the the times in my life where i most felt the lord close and when i most felt and heard the lord speaking to my heart and the times where i felt like i was maturing and growing in the lord the most were in seasons where i felt all alone and so you can either do one of two things you can either fight your feelings of loneliness by fitting in and by conforming yourself to the pattern of the crowd that you used to walk with and run with because feeling lonely doesn't feel good and so i'm gonna be willing to compromise on my morals and my biblical standards just to fit in with whoever i'm with because i'd rather be with them than feel alone and be doing wrong things than feel alone or you can just say listen i've decided and resolved in my heart i'm gonna follow this i'm gonna follow god's word i'm gonna follow god's voice i'm not going to compromise on those standards and i'm going to be willing to feel alone and if you feel alone know that you're in good company moses jonah noah jesus they all felt alone at different times so just embrace it and say god i'm in a period where i feel lonely but i'm going to use this time to get alone with you i'm going to leverage it and ask you god during this season of loneliness would you do a work in my heart would you speak to me would you encourage me by your word but you got to get alone with him get alone with him say i i i feel alone too often my my friends at at work they're not truly my friends i just i talk with them i hang out with them but i have enough alone time by myself well use it then use that alone time to get along with god and to search out the scripture because in the quietness that's where god wants to speak to you the point of god speaking to elijah in a still small voice was to show elijah that the work of god doesn't need to always be accompanied by dramatic revelation or manifestation don't expect god to always reveal himself to you or speak to you in the big and miraculous ways god wasn't in the wind he wasn't in the fire he wasn't in the earthquake he was in the still voice the still small voice it's a common misunderstanding that if it's big and if it's loud it must be god this this thing is going on it's big and loud it must be god god must be moving okay sometimes yes but not all the time we can't always correlate the big and the miraculous with god must be speaking because right here we see that god wasn't in the big miraculous he was in the still small voice but you have to get alone with him in order to hear the still small voice you know a lot of the time we're always looking for a sign i'm so guilty of this who's with me when you're making a big life decision and you you just need a sign god just give give me a sign lord i don't know why but i have i have a thing with the number 14 all right it was my jersey number growing up always i was always number 14. so every time i see a number 14 i'm like god are you speaking to me like i saw a 14 on the billboard i saw a 14 like no lie like one time i was drinking a glass of water and the number 14 was on the bottom of my cup after i had finished the drink i was like oh my goodness 14. like god what are you what are you trying to say to me 14s are showing up everywhere what are you trying to say i should say hi to 14 people on my way to work or should i have 14 kids i i don't i don't know like what would he say lord and so we're always looking for the sign and we're always looking for the the big and the loud but god's not always into the big and the miraculous though he is big and miraculous and can clearly do big and miraculous things like he did in first kings 19 when fire came down from heaven and completely consumed the altar but god wanted to teach eliza elijah listen i will not always speak to you in those ways i'm speaking to you in a still small voice so you have to be sensitive to hear it and you have to be attentive to my word and just get alone with me just get alone i don't know how many of you ever been on like a church summer camp but i'd love to get you know recruit some of you to help counsel our youth summer camps next summer but man those times when you're just alone with the lord like no tv and no phone and stuff it's like you come out of that week just feeling more refreshed why because you got alone with him and you gave god the opportunity to actually speak to you and you gave yourself the opportunity to actually hear his voice point number three i've only got four points so point number three is be in the word consistently be in the word consistently how can i hear god's voice in the big monumental decisions of life like marriage and career in a big move lord are you wanting me to move i need to hear you god i'm making a big decision here's how to learn to hear god's voice for those big decisions you first need to learn to hear his voice in the simple quiet uneventful days do not wait to question god and to ask god lord show me a sign i need to make a big decision about something do not wait for the big decisions to finally give your ear to hear the voice of god do not wait for those big decisions go to the lord in the uneventful mundane days of life where nothing is going on no big decisions are needing to be made and you're just spending time in his word i mean to be like this how silly would this be if a quarterback on a football field was trying to learn plays from his coach on game day in the middle of all the noise big game day big decision need to need to make all these big throws crowd is going nuts how silly would that be if the first time you opened up the playbook was on game day that's not when you open up the playbook you open up the playbook when nothing is going on on the monday or tuesday before the weekend game where it's just you and the coach hey teach me your ways teach me the playbook that's when you you go to god you learn to hear his voice but a lot of the time we don't bother trying to hear god's voice in the boring mundane days we fill our time with other things but then we go to god when oh god is this the person i should marry i haven't talked to you in five months but now i want to hear from you it's like what are you talking about go to the lord in the mundane boring days learn to hear his voice there be accustomed and recognize his voice in those quiet days and you got to be in the word consistently don't just be in the word when you want to just flip through a page and point to a verse and expect god to say marry this person learn to hear his voice in those mundane days you know when we when we're in god's word consistently and we we hear and read about god's heart through the pages of his word he begins to speak to us now yes god spoke to specific people for a specific time but that doesn't mean that we can't still read the word and glean timeless biblical principles and apply it to our lives paul says that god's word is useful for teaching and rebuking and correcting and training in righteousness god's word is timeless so be in the word and recognize god's heart and recognize what god says and then if you do hear god's voice or you feel like god is speaking to you and pressing something on your heart is telling you to do something or go somewhere or maybe someone tells you hey i i heard from god i either i heard god audibly or i heard god tell me to do something through his word what you do when you feel like you hear god and press something on your heart or you hear someone else say that they heard god you always have to pass it through the grid of scripture because if what someone else says or what you feel god says to you if any at any point it contradicts what he's already revealed in here that's not the lord so whatever you feel god impressed upon your heart whatever you hear someone else say oh god told me to do this pass it through the grid of god's word this is god's revealed word to you if it contradicts this then stay away from it if what you feel god says to you contradicts this in any way then just put it to the side don't entertain it pass it through the grid of god's word but you have to be in the word to know it and understand it and then lastly number four follow him in obedience follow him in obedience your ability to hear from god is dependent on your proximity to him and now this is common sense right but we don't always apply it spiritually so if you want to hear from the lord you have to be close to him if you want to have a conversation with a friend let's say what do you normally do when you say hey let's grab a bite to eat let's get some coffee i want to have a good conversation with you usually when your friend is approaching they don't usually stop like 50 feet in front of you and you just have conversation like 50 feet away okay common sense says if you want to be able to hear the person speak to you and you want them to hear you then you have to be close you have to be within two feet of that person so applying this spiritually your ability to hear god's voice is dependent upon your proximity to him how silly would this be imagine this you and god god says hey joe i want to talk to you so you and you and jesus are walking together and you're having a good good time good conversation good fellowship you're walking with jesus he's talking with you and then all of a sudden you just veer off on your own little path here and so jesus is now continuing his walk down his path called truth and he's now 100 yards away he's 100 feet away and you're over here because you chose to veer off that path and now you're upset jesus why can't i hear you why aren't you why are you speaking to me it's like did you ever think that maybe you're not able to hear from him because you veered off on your own path and now you expect to be able to hear his voice so your ability to hear god speak to you is dependent on your proximity to him being able to follow him being able to walk with the lord it's very mind-boggling when someone comes to me and they say i can't hear from the lord you know i i feel like he might be telling me to do this or i have a big decision coming up but i just can't hear from him and i dig into well have you read the bible lately or like how close with you are with the lord it's like well i've been in church in a year and i mean i have a bible at home but i just don't read it much it's like why are you why are you expecting the lord to clearly speak to you and you clearly hear from him when you haven't been walking with him you haven't been following after him you haven't been walking in obedience god's not obligated to speak to you and you can't expect to hear god clearly ministering to your heart and speaking to you because the lord called you to follow him but you decided to veer off so it's important that we follow him and walk in obedience this is what jesus said in luke 11. he said blessed are blessed rather are those who hear the word and keep it jesus said in john 10 27 my sheep hear my voice and i know them and they follow me in order to hear the shepherd's voice we as his sheep have to follow the shepherd and as long as we're just following the shepherd as long as we're in the word and we're we're continuing to seek after the lord and every day we just want to get up and we just want to be with god and we want to hear from god we want to follow after him but we don't only want to hear his word we want to obey it we want to apply it we want to walk in obedience we're not just hearers of the word we're doers of the word then don't worry about i have this big decision coming up you're walking with the lord you're in relationship with the lord you're one of a sheep and you know the lord's voice because you're walking with him don't don't stress don't fret over the big decisions of life he's going to speak to you clearly and impress upon your heart different things he's going to guide you he's going to direct you he's going to instruct you but just be in the word and obey it and follow after the lord he desires to speak to you but will you follow first come along i want to speak to you follow after in obedience your ability to hear his voice is correlated with your obedience and following after him a couple quick things maybe the lord has you feel like the lord has impressed something on on your heart maybe a big decision is coming up and you just want to know like pastor austin i i just want to know is this from the lord i've been overthinking this is this just my own thoughts is it just me i want to be sure that this is the lord a couple of questions i want you to ask yourself when you're facing some kind of a decision you need to make first ask is this within the boundaries of scripture all right as i mentioned if the lord ever tells you to do something or calls you to do something and it falls contrary to the scripture then avoid it it's not of the lord so is this within the boundaries of scripture okay yeah i don't i don't see clearly that god outlines you know don't do this don't go here so i believe this is with within the boundaries of scripture ask yourself too have you prayed about your decision something my mom always constantly asked me it was so annoying austin did you pray about it like no it's like well you should probably pray about it have you prayed about your decision have you gone to the lord in prayer ask yourself will this decision bring god glory will this decision bring bring god glory first corinthians 10 31 says whatever you do whether you eat drink whatever you do do it all for the glory of god so will this decision bring god glory question number four that you should ask yourself is are you over emphasizing a coincidence all right like me when i see number 14 it's everywhere lord this must be you okay it's just a coincidence you you find what you're looking for so are you overemphasizing a coincidence this is what uh god says in isaiah 55 my thoughts are not your thoughts my ways aren't your ways as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than yours and my thoughts higher than your thoughts ask yourself too finally have you sought good counsel from others proverbs 15 22 says plans fail for lack of counsel but with many advisors they succeed now it's important that you surround yourself with good godly trusted friends as those advisors who are pouring into you and giving you counsel like your parents like your good solid friend group that loves the lord proverbs 18 1 says an unfriendly person pursues selfish ends and against all sound judgment starts quarrels so have you have you sought counsel from the lord and from good friends and then finally after passing through those questions make a decision and trust that god's in control sometimes that's all you can do make a decision and trust that the lord is in control and this is what romans 8 28 says we know that for those who love god all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose god will work out all things if you love him he'll work out your beautiful life all according to his plan for your good for his glory so if it doesn't contradict scripture your decision brings glory to the lord you've prayed about your decision you've gotten some good wise counsel from trusted people then just make a decision walk in it and trust the lord and the lord's gonna guide and direct your steps so that he gets glory and so that you're good so trust him and walk in that how to hear god's voice belong to him get alone with him be in the word consistently and then follow him in obedience and the lord i promise you if you trust him and you are led by his spirit he will work out all things for your good and for his glory let's pray lord there are there are a lot of times in our lives where we're faced with big decisions especially in this period of our lives 18 to 29 some big decisions are made in this decade will i get married who will i marry will i have a career will i have some kind of a job will i be able to financially provide you know all these different questions that pass through our mind on a consistent basis so lord i just pray that as we now just seek you and as we now just ask you for wisdom because your word says in james that if we ask for wisdom you'll give generously to all without finding fault and so we just come to you now and we just ask that you would by your holy spirit that you would speak to our hearts that where we need clarity for a decision that you would give us clarity that you would give us wisdom lord that you would counsel us that you would instruct us by your word help us to run to your word help us to pass our life through the grit of your word lord may we follow you may we walk in obedience may we not veer off on our own path lord for that's just going to bring more mess and more problems may we stay on your path trusting you following you trusting in your word pursuing after you lord and then just leave the rest up to you lord take away any anxiety take away any feelings of frustration take away any feelings of uh emotional uh inconsistencies where our emotions are up and down high and low because we're frustrated by life in different ways or we're scared we're anxious lord just i pray in jesus name that you just calm our anxious nerves and that we would walk with you seek you and trust you to take care of our lives to take care of these big decisions we trust you lord you are in control and so we just declare that tonight you're in control of the unknowns of our lives we look to you now we ask that you would speak to our hearts lord that we would be able to clearly hear from you that we would be attentive to that still small voice that you spoke to elijah with help us to hear you lord and help us to walk in obedience we love you thank you for my brothers and sisters tonight go before them this week it's in jesus name we pray and everybody said amen

Channel: Cornerstone Chapel Young Adults Ministry

Views: 202

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: church, teachings, devotional, young adults, worship, music, live

Id: PK9mh0iVieA

Length: 45min 18sec (2718 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 27 2020