A God Listening Heart
I Kings 3: 7-9 (I am reading from the Message)
“And now here I am: God, my God you have made me your servant, ruler of the kingdom place of my father David. I’m too young for this, a mere child! I don’t know the ropes yet, I hardly know that ‘ins’ and ‘outs’ of this job. And here I am, set down in the Middle of the people you have a chosen, a great people- far too many to ever count.”
“Here’s what I want: Give me a God –listening heart, so I can lead your people well discerning the difference between good and evil. For who on their own is capable of leading your glorious people?”
This is the Word of God for the people of God and the entire world. Thanks be to God…
Let us pray.
Un-shakable, immovable, faithful, and true. You are full of wisdom, faith, and beauty. These things are true of you. For you are perfect and blameless. Righteousness shines through in all you do. Yet you never give up on the hopeless ones. These things are true of you. And as I turn my face to you. Oh, Lord, I asked and pray. By the power of your grace, make these things true of me too. Make these things true of me too. Let your words be my words Father. Remove me from the equation all together and hide me behind the cross. It is in the name of the Christ I pray, Amen.
We have been talking about Following the Spirit. I have witnessed to you about my anointing and yielding to the spirit. And the direction my life has taken as I answered the call. We have talked about how it is important for us to yield to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We have to be willing to go where the Spirit leads us. It’s not easy, but it is very necessary. We talked about the urgency that is within the body of Christ for us to yield to the will of Father through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Today, I am going to discuss what it takes to have a God-listening heart.
I will be the first one to admit that it is scary following where the Spirit leads because it just messes up all the plans that I had for my own life. But the Father doesn’t always do what I feel he should, but He always does what is best. And it doesn’t take a rocket scientist or an industrial chemist to figure that one out. It’s a leap of faith.
Does age really matter, when it comes to spiritual maturity? Well, I hope that we all know that answer to this question. It does not. What matters is your relationship with the Father. (Pause)
Yielding to the Spirit makes us obedient. And by obedience we obtain God’s true and perfect will for our lives. Some people chose to follow the Spirit at a young age, while others wait until their older. The calling and yearning is always there. But we chose when we ask God to give us God-listening hearts.
(Pause)
At lot of times this is done when we have gone through something life changing. Like I just witnessed to last Sunday. But I think that I would have rather had a subtle experience like Enoch had.
Enoch was talking with God one day. God love him so much because he was supremely obedient. Enoch was walking along with God and fellowshipping with him like he always did, and in a blink of an eye, Enoch realized that he was taken up into heaven. He didn’t experience death. He went from walking in the garden to walking in paradise.
It was subtle, but the results of obedience are dramatic and life changing. Now that puts a new meaning on “Just a Closer Walk with Thee”.
Figurative speaking, let’s go back to the scripture text. Solomon asked God for discernment and the ability to listen to God with his heart. He was overwhelmed and realized what he was about to come up against. His dad, King David just died, and now he is succeeding him as king of Israel. I mean, that’s a lot for anyone to have to take on. He was now responsible for the lively hood of God’s chosen people.
Solomon gave us a realistic situation where he admitted to his inexperience and age. He had sense enough to ask God for spiritual guidance. He didn’t ask for riches, but rather a God-listening heart. And because of that, God made him the riches king ever. No earthly king has ever reached the glory of Solomon.
We all take advantage of our boundless ability to receive the Holy Spirit’s guidance so many times in our lives. We are quick to say, “God, I got this!” And when the situation does not turn out the way that we hope, we are begging for God to take over and put an end to the madness.
Humph. Well, why didn’t you just ask for God’s guidance in the first place and you wouldn’t be going through what you’re going through now. (Pause) And what’s so bad about it, is that I am not exempted from what I just said. I have often times thought ‘Why?’ I know from my experiences that I have made decisions based on what I thought was good or acceptable without even asking for God’s guidance. Or rather, I would hear the Spirit speaking to me, and I just continue to go about my merry way.
When we rely on our own abilities and resources, we are cheating ourselves. Yeah, the outcome of our endeavors might turn out the way that we hope, but just imagine how things would have turned out if we asked the Father for guidance in the first place. It’s mind blowing when you think about it. We have to make the habit of practicing spiritual exercises each day so that we will automatically listen to the Spirit of the Lord in our daily lives.
When we listen to the Holy Spirit, something happens. (Pause) We are blessed because we obtain (pause) godly wisdom.
I personally feel that God expects us to listen to him through the Spirit. And not asking for a God-listening heart is an insult to God.
The million dollar question is… Why don’t we listen to God when he talks to us through the Spirit? We don’t want to because we are afraid. We don’t like change. Even if our lives are full of chaos and misery, we still want to wallow in our own self-pity instead of raising ourselves to the next level in Christ.
Do you actually think that it is easy for me to give up a successful career in science? Despite all of the things God has brought me through, I still find it hard to listen to his guidance and direction through the spirit. I am about to go to nursing school. That is a career field that takes a special person with an attitude of servitude. All I can give you is the attitude because I will be the first one to tell you that I am not the one.
In doing this, I am going to subject myself with a lot of stress. I am going to have to work and go to school at the same time and raise a teenage daughter on my own. But are sure as there is a God, there is a way, and as long as I listen to the Holy Spirit, I will make it through the next two in half years. Is it going to be easy? No! But the question of the hour is… Am I going to listen to spirit when it speaks to me? I hope so. I know that I will still make mistakes, but I know that I have to at least take God at his word because he is not a man that he should lie. I have to believe that he will get me and Dedra through this. So I can not be afraid. I can’t be hard headed. I can not be stubborn. I can not believe that I can do this on my own. I can not rely on my family and friends. I have to rely on the direction of the Holy Spirit.
If we don’t answer the call and listen to the Spirit, then God will just call someone else who is willing to be obedient. God doesn’t need us. He wants us. If we reject him, it doesn’t faze him because we made the choice not him. God has a clear conscience when we reject him. He hurts that we make the wrong choices, but it was our choice all the same.
God yearns to be closer to us, but we keep Him at a distance. We would rather keep him in our back pockets in case of an emergency.
My education cripples me. I have three degrees. I have bachelor’s degree and two masters. I have an uncanny tendency to listen to my own reasoning, as an alternative to listening to the Spirit.
You have to understand. I am one of God’s hard headed children. And unfortunately, I always learn the hard way. I am listening because I realize that I don’t have another alternative. Believe me; I have tried to do things every other way than God’s way even when I know he has told me to do other wise because sometimes it just doesn’t make sense to me. It just doesn’t make sense! That’s were trust comes in. God’s ways are not our ways. Even the foolishness of God puts all human wisdom and intelligence to absolute shame!
When we have God-listening hearts, we are putting all trust in the Lord. I am here to tell you that that is awesome!
By having a God-listening heart, we are opening ourselves to bare witness to his glory in our lives in the lives of others.
Solomon was a prime example of what could be done when we listen to the Spirit of God. And he is also an example of what happens when we stray away from the Spirit.
1. He began to have a false sense of security and relied on his own wisdom rather than continuing to ask for a God-listening heart.
2. He married women who worshiped idol gods and he began to take on some of those same practices.
3. His mistakes caused lasting damage for Israel, but since God made a promise to his dad David and him, Israel went through turmoil upon his death.
There are consequences for not having a God-listening heart.
• Inner turmoil
• Paranoia
• False sense of security
• Dwelling on the insecurities within ourselves
But God does not change, we do. And it is such a blessing to know that in the mist of the trials, we call on him. And we have been told that those who call upon the name of the Lord will NEVER be put to shame.
The Father sends his Spirit to strengthen and comfort us. Now that’s power! Just imagine how different our lives can be if we just listen to the Holy Spirit.
Just stop, be still, and listen for he is God. He is not ever going to do anything that will hurt us. His ways are definitely not our ways, and his wisdom can not ever be surpassed. We are here because he wants for us to be here. He woke us up this morning and started us on our way. He put food on your table. The Lord our God is so able, so why is it that we refuse to listen?
Well, the answer is easy, just like Dedra refuses to listen to me when I tell her do certain things. She doesn’t think that I know what I am talking about. I am not that much older than her, but I am old to her all the same. She doesn’t know that I have been through what she is going through. She doesn’t understand that I can relate to the hardship of being a teenager. She doesn’t realize that I understand what it is like to struggle in school. She doesn’t realize that when I tell her to do something it is for her own good. She refuses to listen so therefore she has to learn the hard way.
You see where I am going with this… Jesus knows what we have been through and what we are going through now. We have discussed this before. Because he has lived among us he has been bestowed the priest hood in the Order of Melchizedek. He knows, but we refuse to believe. We refuse to listen, and we compromise ourselves and others when we don’t listen to the spirit that dwells within us.
When we do wrong, the Spirit flees from us. There is no way that something Holy can dwell in something that is unholy. The Spirit flees from us when we sin, and only when we ask for forgiveness and repent can we continue to live in fellowship with the Father through the spirit.
So please, I beg of you… continue to seek God’s will in your life. Continue to ask for a God listening heart. I promise you that the world will bare witness to the change in you and in your lives. You won’t have to say thing because it will be written all over your face. You will have a glow about you. And you will not be adversely affected by the ways of the world because you will be standing on the promises of God.
He will not leave you or forsake you. He loves you so much. Why because the bible tells us so. He gave his Son for us, and upon his resurrection he gave a friend. A friend that will comfort and strengthen us. So I challenge you today, ask the Lord for a God-listening heart. It’s for your own good and it will bring you eternal joy. If you already listen to the spirit of the Lord, then mazeltoff! But if that is not your testimony, then please make the change. It’s a risk that is worth taking. Change is never easy, but it is always inevitable especially when it comes to matters of God. It’s not elementary, it’s necessary. If want a more meaningful relationship with the Creator. If you want to go from moments of happiness to eternal joy, then please ask the Lord for the ability to listen and yield to his spirit. Amen.
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May his face shine upon you and be gracious and give you peace.
