Church of the Nazarene -East Rock

When God Seems Silent

When God Seems Silent: “Are you in A Hurry?”

We can really struggle when our timeline isn’t being met can’t we?

Whether that’s in a customer service line, a restaurant, or even in the car waiting for our spouse, we struggle with waiting.

From very early on in our lives, we have expectations for how fast things should happen, and when they don’t, the frustration mounts.

Even in our walk with Jesus-

We pray and we want answers now.

We hurt and we want healing- yesterday.

When we’re confused, we want direction

And when those prayer’s go seemingly un-answered, our frustration can mount, we can begin to believe that God is silent, that he doesn’t really hear our broken hearts.

Have you been there??

‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭3:8-9‬‬

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Today if you would say that God seems silent, like he is not moving, not listening, and not speaking- perhaps we might ask the searching question:

Are you in a hurry?

Welcome back to part 3 of our teaching series “When God seems silent”

Throughout this series we are seeking to understand how to approach life when God appears not to be speaking, when he seems silent.

We acknowledge that in our human experience, the walking out of our faith, it’s not always as easy to hear the Lord as we might wish.

To hear him takes intentionality- Listening to the Lord is not a passive activity, we must actively listen making space to hear his voice.

Un confessed sin can also serve to separate us from his voice, from the relationship with him that we were made for.

And sometimes we can misinterpret God’s delay as His silence.‭‭

Psalms‬ ‭27:13-14‬‬

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

David in writing this psalm has firmly placed his faith and trust in the Lord, that he will see His goodness in the land.

A lot like listening, our waiting is not a passive activity on our part.

To wait on the Lord is to seek him, to trust him, to allow him to work within our hearts as we wait on HIS plan to unfold, yes, in his timing…Not ours.

God is not making us wait to annoy us, he is having us wait to transform us. To strengthen our faith and trust in him.

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭40:28-31

‬‬Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

In God, waiting isn’t the time when nothing is happening. Waiting is the time when EVERYTHING is happening.

However, much it might feel desolate, or hopeless, again and again the scriptures say- that it’s in the waiting that our strength is renewed.

His followers that learn to wait on Him will renew their strength… In the waiting

They will soar on wings like eagles… in the waiting

They will run, they will not grow weary…In the waiting

Through the waiting they will walk and not faint..

Friend if you are in the waiting today, I invite you to claim that promise.

Our schedule is always faster; His is always better.

http://bible.com/events/48967417

Church of the Nazarene – Harrisonburg When God Seems Silent

When God Seems Silent: “Are you listening? Is there sin?”

What should I do when God appears not to be speaking? The truth is that God always desires to speak to us, if we “have ears to hear.”

There were times in history when God was literally silent, we believe on this side of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ he is never actually silent today.

He longs to speak to us, and he does that through many different ways.‭‭

Jeremiah‬ ‭29:11-14‬‬

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”-The Hebrew word ‘seek’ means to seek with a purpose, to seek with the expressed intention of finding. This is not aimless wandering.

-What happens when we seek Him like that (verse 13)?

-First, we seek Him. The very act of seeking Him compounds: it leads to more seeking. Active listening produces listening and more listening.

-Second, we will find Him. Seeking Him leads to finding Him. Active listening produces hearing.

To seek Him with desperation means obstacles must be overcome. Sometimes we cannot hear His voice because something is blocking the connection: sin.‭‭

Psalms‬ ‭66:16-20‬‬

Come and hear, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me. I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!

This incredible truth causes us to be humbled and hopeful.

-What is humbling? You could be seeking the Lord, but because of sin in your heart, you could also be totally missing what God is trying to say to you, in spite of His efforts to speak.

-What is hopeful? When we confess our sin and turn to the Lord, He forgives us. Our connection to God is restored.‭‭

1 John‬ ‭1:9

‬‬If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Bottom Line:

If we are serious about seeking the Lord, we will be serious about confessing our sin.

Verses for further study & reflection:

Luke 18:1-8

Psalm 19:1

Romans 1:20

1 Kings 19:12

Isaiah 59:1-2

Psalm 28:1

The three Key Actions in Pursuit of God

Listening

John 10:27-2827

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.

Revelation 3:20

20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

Seeking

Matthew 7:7-87

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

James 4:8a

8 Come near to God and he will come near to you.

Waiting

Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV)

But those who wait on the Lord

Shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles,

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint.

Psalm 27:14

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heartand wait for the Lord.

Church of the Nazarene -East Rock

When God Seems Silent

When God Seems Silent: Part 2 “Is there sin?”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭3:7-10‬‬

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

From the beginning of our story, sin has served to separate us from God and the reality is, it still does today.

There were times in history when God was literally silent, we believe on this side of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ he is never actually silent today.

He longs to speak to us, and he does that through many different ways.

We began last week with perhaps the most basic question to ask ourselves, if indeed it seems that God is silent, and that is “Are you listening?”

Listening is never a passive activity; it takes engagement and intentionality on our part. So, if we would say that God seems silent, it may be because we have stopped acting to hear him.

Maybe you would say today, I am trying!

I am praying, I’m showing up to church more than I ever have, I’m trying to serve others, I’m giving generously to the church, I even joined a life group!

It is a humbling and sobering reality that despite all those things, GOOD THINGS, that sin can still be separating you from God, making him appear as if he isn’t speaking.

As we continue in our teaching series today, if we would say that God seems silent, we might ask ourselves the searching and hard question:

Is there sin?

Have I separated or hidden from his voice?‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭59:1-2‬‬Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

One of our biggest problems can be growing comfortable with sin, accepting it as a part of our lives, and thinking we can have relationship with God and sin. But the reality is, if you accept sin as a part of your life, you must also accept God’s apparent silence as a part of your life.

When we talk about sin that separates us from God, we are not talking about an accident or mistake in our journey as followers of Jesus. While those sins matter and need to be repented of, they do not serve to silence God’s voice.

What does separate us from the voice of the Lord are intentional choices, sins we are hanging onto, and refusing to let go of.

The things that we know the Lord would have us change, but we just aren’t willing too.

Are you ready to step out of the Silence? Perhaps the first step, is letting go of sin.‭‭

Isaiah‬ ‭58:2-4‬‬

For day after day, they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.

If you would say that God seems silent today, maybe even stagnant, I would ask you- Are you holding onto something? Are you resisting God’s call to intimacy?

You may ask “How do i know?” or “How can i identify that area in my life?”

There are a few things we can pay close attention to:- Things that you get defensive over.- Certain topics that come up in scripture or at church and you want to tune out, or you feel a knot in your stomach.- Maybe it is something you are making excuses for- Perhaps you are in denial about a certain part of your life being “a big deal”- Or maybe you know there is sin…and you hate it. But you’re trying to fix it yourself…Not confessing. Not being open and honest. Just burying it.

Friends whatever those things are, whatever those warning lights are, God is longing, desiring, that you would let go of those things and embrace him.

Will you take the step out of the silence and into intimacy with God through confession and repentance?‭‭

1 John‬ ‭1:9‬‬

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Prayer Caught

“They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.” Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him. Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!””‭‭Mark‬ ‭14:32-42‬ ‭

Prayer Taught

Four obstacles to prayer

1. Prayer requires a heart that listens, and listing is hard

2. We don’t truly understand the power of prayer and how it works.

3. Our enemy does everything he can to keep us from praying.

4. We are surrounded by pressures that force us into our comfort zone and meaningful prayer doesn’t usually happen in our comfort zone.

“When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation but rescue us from the evil one.”‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6:5-13‬ ‭