Tune In
Pt. 3 - Static
I. Introduction
?I don’t know about you but one of the most frustrating things in life is trying to listen to the radio when there is static! This is especially true when you are on the road when there is an important ball game on and you carefully scroll through the channels and all you can find is a station that seems to be right between the two numbers. You can’t quite seem to dial it in. You try to fine tune with all your might but it just isn’t distinct or clear. Static and interference prevail. This is never more true then when you are forced to turn over to AM! You begin to question the signal strength of the station. Static on the radio is one thing but static when you are trying to hear God is even more frustrating. There is an example of static when it comes to hearing from God that I want to remind you about.
TEXT: Daniel 9:1-3
(Message) “Darius, son of Ahasuerus, born a Mede, became king over the land of Babylon. In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, was meditating on the Scriptures that gave, according to the Word of God to the prophet Jeremiah, the number of years that Jerusalem had to lie in ruins, namely, seventy. I turned to the Master God, asking for an answer—praying earnestly, fasting from meals, wearing rough penitential burlap, and kneeling in the ashes. I poured out my heart, baring my soul to God, my God:
So, before we read anything further let’s set the scene. Daniel and the Children of Israel are in captivity. Because of their own rebellion, hard heartedness and disobedience prophecy has been fulfilled and they are slaves to Babylon. Familiar with Scripture, Daniel knows that the foretold length of the bondage is coming to an end and so he begins to call out to God to remember them. He reminds God of the promise that the captivity will last a certain period of times - 70 years.
I don’t have time to deal with this but be sure and go and read Daniel 9:13-17 and how Daniel approaches God. He acknowledges their wrong doing and then he reminds God of an example of God’s ability to rescue. Some of us would hear God if we would simply acknowledge our own culpability and responsibility for the situation we are in. But we also need to learn a key here in getting response from God. We remind Him, even though He hasn’t forgotten, what He has done in the past. In the process, we are reminded that He can do more than we ever dreamed of or expected! It increases our faith to reflect on His faithfulness.
Daniel 9:20-23
“While I was pouring out my heart, baring my sins and the sins of my people Israel, praying my life out before my God, interceding for the holy mountain of my God—while I was absorbed in this praying, the humanlike Gabriel, the one I had seen in an earlier vision, approached me, flying in like a bird about the time of evening worship. “He stood before me and said, ‘Daniel, I have come to make things plain to you. You had no sooner started your prayer when the answer was given. And now I’m here to deliver the answer to you. You are much loved! So listen carefully to the answer, the plain meaning of what is revealed:
So, he gets immediate response. But watch - static.
Daniel 10:2-3, 12-14
“During those days, I, Daniel, went into mourning over Jerusalem for three weeks. I ate only plain and simple food, no seasoning or meat or wine. I neither bathed nor shaved until the three weeks were up.
“‘Relax, Daniel,’ he continued, ‘don’t be afraid. From the moment you decided to humble yourself to receive understanding, your prayer was heard, and I set out to come to you. But I was waylaid by the angel-prince of the kingdom of Persia and was delayed for a good three weeks. But then Michael, one of the chief angel-princes, intervened to help me. I left him there with the prince of the kingdom of Persia. And now I’m here to help you understand what will eventually happen to your people. The vision has to do with what’s ahead.’
In this instance Daniel goes from immediate communication to wading and waiting through static. He prays for 3 solid weeks and there is no response. Then 24 days later an angel shows up and says the first moment you prayed you were heard but I ran in to static. The enemy resisted. Remember our enemy is called the prince and power of the air! He works in the air ways to convolute and delay deliverance. His power is best exhibited in the air ways. Think about that a moment - the enemy flexes his muscles in our lives by trying his best to control what we hear. That is why we so often see people derailed and detoured by something they hear - or more often than not - they thought they heard. The truth it what they thought they heard was actually a twisted version of what was actually said. So, in order to be able to defeat this power of the air we need to learn some lessons based on Daniel’s experience that will help us tune in.
1. We need to hear that we are heard.
I want you to notice an incredible truth from this account. This passage says on two different occasions that from the moment Daniel even thought about or began to pray that he was heard. The rate of response varied but the rate of God hearing Daniel’s request was consistent. Immediate! Our petitions and requests hit God’s ears not when they cross our lips but when they cross our mind! I think it is important to recognize this because I have noticed that We tend to think that because we struggle to hear that God struggles to hear.
I just came to assure you today that even when static has become standard for us and even when we, like Daniel, consistently long for response but hear nothing we need to know that He hears. There may even be occasions when the answer may seem late to us we need to rest in the knowledge that the answer is on its way.
Isaiah 65:24 - Before they call I will answer: while they are still speaking I will hear!
Maybe in old song form - Oh yes the answer is on the way, this I know Jesus said it I believe it to be so. Our Heavenly Father knows the need before we pray and we can rest assured the answer’s on the way!
2. Static reveals resistance and should cause us to rejoice.
I am about to blow your mind . . . Interference reveals interference! Why bother even telling you something so elementary? Because I get concerned that a lot of us make the mistake of equating silence as a sign or indication of God’s lack of concern or love. I have watched people get mad at God because they fail to realize that if there is static it doesn’t mean God doesn’t care it means the enemy is at work to stop their answer. In fact, I am going to make an odd statement to you today! If you are confronted with static you should rejoice! The more static you are encountering the more encouraged you should be because that is an indication that the enemy knows a response is coming and he is doing everything he can to stop you from hearing. Static should should strengthen your resolve. Too often we let static stop us. The first little taste of interference and we throw in the towel. Which brings me to the third lesson we can learn from Daniel.
3. The proper response to static is persistence.
Daniel is doing his best to hear and instead there is nothing but static and silence. But notice he doesn’t give up. He keeps listening. He keeps tuning in. No answer after day one he is persistent. No answer after week 1 he is persistent. No response 10 days in he persists. Nothing after 2 weeks . . . No change leads to no change . . . He continues. Answer released on day one but not received until day 24. Persistence wins the war. Persistence prevails.
Some of you are stopping one day short, one service short, one moment short of reception. Keep fine tuning. If resisted, don’t back up, don’t give up, don’t let up instead press in harder. If the enemy is resisting this hard and this long the answer must be worth the wait.
We can’t become so frustrated with static that we change channels.
Some of you have been praying for months even years and it is like listening to an AM station at night in response - static. Keep praying. Lean in harder. Lean in longer.
Make a commitment this year to commit.
