Finding the Will of God: The telephone signpost
Jer.31: 21-22 a Verse that signifies what we are trying to accomplish wit these studies; FINDING THE WILL OF GOD; To find our way to find out what to do to find the will of God, we are looking at signpost, note verse 22, how long will you go here and there?
The first signpost that starts us on our journey is the Yield sign; three question we ask ourselves to find out is we are yielding; the life question, the lordship question, and the lust question; my pleasure or His? Today we come to the second signpost;
The telephone signpost; call home; prayer; what significance does prayer play in our “finding the will of God”?
Proverbs 3:5-6; answers this question; lean; to lean against, to cause to support; an attitude of trust; and what does the Bible say about leaning on our own understanding? “Acknowledge” to perceive, to understand, to acquire knowledge, to be familiar with to be aware of; BRING HIM ON LINE; Paths; your way; straight; to be level to declare right, literally straight, figurative; upright and moral;
Prayer is an acknowledgement of my own finiteness and His infiniteness; b So PRAYER IS THE KEY THAT STARTS THE ENGINE THAT WILL MOVE ME DOWN THE ROAD TO FINDING THE WILL OF GOD;
Four Truths about prayer that may encourage us to pray when seeking to find God’s will;
1. We have an INVITATION to pray; Imagine that; Jer.33: 3; (look at the context) God’s telephone number; Note this invitation is “Call to me” and I will answer” you and I will tell you great and mighty things which you do not know” An invitation has several things on it; let’s look at a few;
a. When? When we don’t know what to do? He will tell us things that we do not already know. Do you know: who or if you are to marry? How to deal with that co-worker? Do you know how to deal with the children problem? Do you know what to do next week with your current situation? THEN CALL HOME.B He will tell you what you don’t already know. When? Jeremiah is in trouble wouldn’t you say, and what does God tell Him?
b. When? James 1:5; when we lack wisdom; we make so many dumb mistakes; why probably we don’t ask God. So we see the when of the invitation; now let’s look at the what
c. WHAT will happen if I take Him up on His invitation? Jer. He will tell us what we did not know; James He will give us wisdom and give it to us generously without reproach;
d. Who is invited? James 1:5; ‘all men” What a great thing to know we are not left our of this invitation because: Every believer is Invited to call on Him; He is never to busy, absent, on the other line or away from His desk, never ask you to push this number or that number if you want to get through, But just call Him He will answer, not His secretary.
2. The second truth about prayer to find God’s will is THE INITATIVE TO PRAY; do you and I have the imitative to pray? It is amazing how little I pray or how easy it is to forget to pray. Are you like that? It seems we lack the initiative to pray. We are a people who are motivated. Lets see if God gives us any imitative to pray. Do you think He might just do that since He has sent us an invitation, do you think he might just give us some imitative to come to him?
a. Heb. 10:19-22; confidence key word; what does He mean by confidence? What is the holy place? Now we can go in with out fear or with out fear of being dirty; GOD HAS FITTED US TO COME INTO HIS HOLY PLACE; I CAN GET IN TO SEE HIM NO MATTER MY PHYSICAL OR EMOTIONAL STATE HE HAS MADE ME CLEAN THAT IS HOW BAD HE WANTS ME IN THERE WHERE HE CAN INTERACT WITH ME;
b. V21; look who I come to; go to Heb 2:17; and Heb 4:14-16; this is the one I am coming to; now verse 22; draw near, you don’t have to be afraid;
c. Another imitative; the context in which I can come; Psalms 55:17; an incredible verse; even when I am murmuring and complain He still hears me; What else can he do to give me the imitative to come. It is not my worthiness but His; I pray in His name not mine;
SHOULD WE PRAY TO FIND GOD’S WILL? WE HAVE the invitation and been given the imitative to come. Now what about the:
3. THE INCLINATION TO PRAY; I have said I forget to pray, I don’t take time to pray, why with all He has said to us am I not inclined to pray? I am inclined to think it is because we are not versed in some fundamentals about prayer; Prayer is not a grocery list, or some kind of ritual; here are some fundamentals about prayer;
a. Matt. 6:5 normal conversation; how many of you could carry on a relationship with out communication? And what kind of communication is meaningful? Tell him just like you would tell me. What you need, what you want, where you need wisdom etc. Don’t try to impress him with your theological education, or with your understanding and grasp of the English language; Just tell Him what is on your mind;
b. Second fundamental of prayer: No power in the prayer itself: Matt.6: 7; don’t put your faith in the prayer but In God; Well I prayed now that was said right so it ought to work. Faith in the prayer not in God; how many of you have heard “hail marry”? People putting confidence in the prayer not in God;
c. Third fundamental; nothing is off limits: Phill. 4:6-7; break this verse down;
4. The inability to pray; why with all this grace to pray, do we find ourselves with the inability to pray? James 4:2;
a. Our own solutions; other ways to get what we want or to get something done we want done; don’t want to wait on God;
b. Wrong motives; a commitment to our will instead of God’s
c. It is a work; it takes time to pray and effort and faith; to get our focus on God and off ourselves is a work;
d. We tend to believe that prayer is woeful; less attended function in the church; looked at as a ritual or hearing all these surmounts to other people;
Should we pray to find God’s will? Sunday night is my special time.
