An Atmosphere To Hear
I.
Unbelief (not being in
faith) will have you missing stuff that God saying and showing-2Cor4:4
A. When you yield to
unbelief you are a candidate to be blinded
1.
This
gospel is hid from them, they don’t see or hear it; It’s not that they aren’t
seeing and hearing the gospel naturally, but seeing they’re not seeing, hearing
they’re not hearing
2.
The
gospel is hid to them because Satan darkened them to the place where they
couldn’t see or hear and he’s still in the business of doing this today
a. Hebrews 3:18-19-The voice
of God/the leading of the Spirit is the direction-giving instrument that is
designed to lead you into God’s best-Psalm 86:11
b. One of the worst things
that can happen to a believer is to not hear the voice of the One who has been
sent to lead you into God’s best for your life
1)
There’s
nothing more important than hearing the voice of God & yielding
c. EX: It’s like the pilot
being insensitive to the air traffic controller
1)
It’s
not the pilot’s job to decide where to go, it’s His job to yielding to the
leading
2)
It’s
extremely dangerous for him to ignore or be insensitive to this direction
3.
Satan
was not able to blind the minds of ones who believed, only ones who believed
not
a. It’s hid from them b/c
their minds are blind, their minds are blind because they believe not; so in
turn their unbelief is keeping them from seeing and hearing something
b. Their unbelief is
destroying their ability to see and hear
1)
NLT-Satan,
who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t
believe. They are unable to see the
glorious light of the Good News.
They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ.
2)
If
they would just make the decision to believe they would see
4.
When
you stay in faith in activates the powers of spiritual sight and spiritual
hearing
a. Satan cannot blind a
believer;
b. If you’ll stay in faith
he can’t keep you from seeing and hearing
B. Unbelief blinds and
deafens to where you can’t receive what God’s communicating to you
1.
2
Kings 6:16-He can’t see because he’s afraid unbelief blinds you
a. Elisha sees something he
doesn’t see because he was in faith; He’s seeing inside
2.
Yielding
to this worry, discouragement, depression is all unbelief and it will darken you
a. So many of these things
we thought Satan just does to ruin or day; but there is so much more to this
discouragement, depression, fear than just having a bad day
b. He’s pushing this stuff
to cut you off from the voice that will get you into God’s best
c. He’s endeavoring to cut
off communication by defiling the instruments we use to see and hear; unbelief
will defile your spiritual eyes and ears
II.
If you want to see and
hear you have to create and maintain an atmosphere of faith
A. 2 Chronicles 20:6-He
starts this session of seeking, by creating and atmosphere of faith
1.
Faith
is a choice and you could make the decision to believe as easily as you made
the decision to not believe; it takes just as much time to be in faith as it
does in unbelief
a. James 1:1-5-You’re not
going to get the wisdom of God if you’re not in faith
b. Wavering people won’t
receive the wisdom of God because unbelief blinds you
2.
They
are in “impossible” situation, it looks bad, fear and despair are trying to
reign and you will not hear from God in that type atmosphere
a. 14-When the atmosphere of
faith was created the Spirit of God showed up and delivered the wisdom of
God-James 1:5
3.
When
they acted in faith they got more direction
B. Often times the only
difference in one who sees and hears and yields and wins and one who does not
is faith
1.
Num13:27-14:10-It’s like one group
didn’t even hear and one did, but they both heard; it’s like they are seeing two
different things and they are – Exodus 33:1, Numbers 13:1
a. These people can’t
understand why Joshua and Caleb are talking like this and Joshua and Caleb
can’t understand why they are talking like this
2.
Hebrews 3:10-12-The evil heart of
unbelief is why they didn’t see and because they didn’t see they were led astray
a. These people’s answer is
bouncing off their foreheads and they are not seeing it
b. They didn’t see God’s
ways; They heard the verses above, they didn’t recognize it to be God or see it
to be God (I’m with you go get it; that’s God’s way)
c. That evil heart of
unbelief will blind eyes and deafen your ears
d. Unbelief not only shut
them out of the promise land, it shut them out from the wisdom and direction of
God to get into the promise land
III.
An atmosphere of faith is
the breeding grounds for direction from the Holy Spirit (What is an atmosphere
of faith)
A. It’s imperative that if
you want to hear from God that you get in faith; The more unbelief you yield to
the darker your life gets and the darker it gets the harder it is to see and
hear
1.
Proverbs
4:18-19-For the just who live by faith and stay in faith it’s going to get
brighter and the brighter it gets the easier it is to see and hear; The wicked
are in darkness because they believe not and they don’t see and hear
B. John 16:13, 8:31-32-If
you waver on the written word, you won’t hear the spoken word
1.
Faith
is simply agreeing with God’s word b/c He said it and continuing in spite of
everything that comes your way
a. The leading from the Holy
Spirit comes while you’re faith on the Word of God
b. As you yield to the
written word of God you open the door for the Holy Spirit to enter and give you
the direction you need for that particular situation
2.
You
have to come to realize the importance of this word FROM God and the absolute
vital necessity of it concerning your victory; If you get discouraged/worried
and stop agreeing with the Word and get out of faith you’ll miss the very
direction you need to walk in victory-Romans 15:13
C. Acts 13:2-Staying in
faith keeps you positioned to hear and to be led by the Holy Spirit
1.
Hebrews
11:6, 10:38, Matthew 8:8-Faith pleases God and ministers to Him
a. 1 Samuel 15:22-The way
God gets ministered to/pleasure from a sacrifice or offering He gets more
pleasure and is ministered to more by obedience and faith
b. As you ministered unto
God through and with your faith, you’ll get direction from HS
2.
Fear/unbelief
pushes God out; Faith welcomes Him in-Luke 8:35-38, Gen 3:10,Mt13:58
a. We have to get on the
same channel as the HS and He’s on the faith channel
3.
No
matter how dark it is or how bad it looks you have to stay in faith if you want
the leading of the Holy Spirit-1 Samuel 30:1-9
a. Direction came after the
atmosphere of faith was created
b. 4-No direction came out
of the weeping, out of the grief and distress
IV.
To be led by the Holy Spirit
you have to be in faith for the Spirit’s leading-James 1:5
A. Anything that we receive
from God is given by grace received through faith and that includes direction
and leading for our lives-Ephesians 2:8, Romans 4:16
1.
A
lack of faith for direction will lead to a lack of direction
2.
God’s
not determining how much direction you get, but rather it’s according to what
you believe; we need to have faith that everything we do is led of Him
a. What you believe where
being led of the HS is concerned is what you’ll receive
b. He’s able to direct your
every move, but you have to believe that’s possible for your life
B. There’s a promise here
that if you lack direction God will give it to you open-handedly
1.
Wisdom-Insight or wisdom not
naturally attained-That’s the leading of the Spirit
2.
God’s
not withholding direction; He doesn’t withhold direction from anybody
C. The condition to this
promise is that you must ask in faith,
nothing wavering-James 1:7
1.
Hesitating
and doubting will keep you from receiving direction(“Well
I just don’t hear God’s voice like you, God just doesn’t speak to me like he
does you”)
2.
Faith
to be led & hear His voice begins with the Word concerning it
a. John
10:2-5,10-11,27-Jesus said His sheep hear
(perceive, not deaf) his voice, follow
(lead, guide, direct) his voice-they’re being led know (perceive, notice, discern) his voice and when the stranger
speaks they recognize that’s not my shepherd
b. Psalm37:3,
Proverbs 3:5, John 16:13-My steps are directed of the Lord, He leads me in the
way to go, and shows me things to come
3.
Js1:6, 2Pet1:4-If
wisdom is being offered to me, then there is no need for me to ask for it in
the way you and I think about asking for something (Can I please Have?)
a. Don’t ask for things that
were deemed yours as part of your inheritance-take them
b. Mark 11:24-Whatever you
ask believe you receive it and you will have it
D. Therefore, to receive
direction and be led of the Spirit faith is required
1.
Faith 1) To get direction from
a God you can’t see 2) To hear direction that the natural ear can’t hear 3) You
have to believe he will lead you b/c He said he would 4) You have to believe
you will hear it b/c he said you would
2.
Genesis
5:22,24-Enoch must have heard is great grandpa talked with God and just stepped
out in faith and did the same thing