Looking, Listening, Seeking
I.
To see and hear you must
look and listen (Seek)
A. John 16:13-The Holy
Spirit is speaking and showing and you are hearing and seeing
1.
If
it’s God’s will that the HS speak & show then it’s as much His will that you see and hear
2.
He
is leading some more than others, not by His choice; some are looking to Him more
3.
You
won’t follow a leader that you’re not looking and listening to
a. A leader can be
endeavoring to lead you by telling you things and showing you stuff but if you
don’t look at him and listen to him you won’t see and hear his directions
b. It’s vital that you look
and listen and seek
4.
Proverbs
4:7 (ERV)-The first step to becoming wise is to look for wisdom
B. It is imperative that
when the Holy Spirit goes to talking and showing we are seeing & hearing
1.
He’s
talking to you and showing you stuff to make you more free, more extraordinary,
to take you further away from Satan’s plan for your life, to make you more
effective, to lead you to the experience of what that God has for you, to get
you more victory
C. Proverbs8:17-The people who get direction and wisdom are going to be
those who seek it
1.
ERV-Those
who look for me will find me-Are you
looking and listening for direction?
a. According to this verse
you will not get direction, leading, wisdom if you don’t seek it
b. You’re not going to get
water from a faucet you never turn on/go to/seek after
2.
The
level at which you seek the Holy Spirit for direction will be the level at
which you are led by Him; If you’ll seek direction more you’ll find it
more-Matthew 7:7
a. You are determining how
much you’re seeing and hearing, how much wisdom and direction you are receiving
b. Many people are not
seeing because they are not looking, they are not hearing b/c they are not
listening, they are not finding because they aren’t seeking it
3.
This
verse didn’t say anything about you seeking wisdom and not getting it-James1:5, Pr3:5
a. There’s only one thing
that can happen if you seek wisdom…you find it
D. Proverbs 3:5-7-Our part
is to look for, listen for, seek for wisdom
1.
Acknowledge Him:
a. His reality-He is a real person, who
has a real ministry, who really has been sent by God to lead you, talk to you,
and show you stuff, He really talks, He really reveals, and He will really help
you and direct you
b. His authority-He is higher than you in
rank and you got no business deciding what you’re going to do, getting orders
from yourself
c. His superiority-He’s smarter than you,
He knows more than you
2.
There will never be a time where you’ll
acknowledge Him and He won’t direct your paths
3.
In
all your ways-Practice doing
this all the time
a. I’m amazed by the stuff
we try to do on our own without even acknowledging Him
b. Being wise in your own
eyes will keep you from looking to Him-Isaiah 5:21,Proverbs 16:18
1)
A
revelation of you without him-You are nothing-Gal 6:3---you know nothing-1 Cor 8:2---In yourself you have nothing-1 Cor 4:7-In yourself you can do nothing-John 15:5
c. Psalm 25:9-The humble get
direction because they look for it
1)
Pride
keeps you from looking and
listening, humility keeps you looking and listening
d. Jesus was looking all the
time-Matthew 11:27,John 5:19,30,8:26
1)
He
was led by the spirit and got direction BECAUSE HE SOUGHT IT and he sought it
because he had a revelation that he could do nothing of himself-Jn11,Mt14
2)
The
father showed him what to do and say because he sought it
II.
Seeking-Value births
desire, desire motivates action, action ensures the demand is met
A. Require-You won’t desire/require something you don’t value
1.
If
you don’t think direction from the HS, wisdom, and leading is vital you won’t
seek it
a. Psalm 22:26-They who
[diligently] seek for, inquire of and for Him, and require Him [as their greatest need] – After salvation wisdom is your greatest
need
b. Psalm 27:8-You have
said, Seek My face [inquire for and require My
presence as your vital need]. My
heart says to You, Your face (Your presence), Lord, will I seek, inquire for,
and require [of necessity and on the
authority of Your Word]. – What will you do without wisdom? It’s a
necessity, a vital need b/c you only do what he shows you and say what he tells
you; without wisdom you are spiritually paralyzed, you can’t move
1)
Is
wisdom vital to you, is it a necessity to you? We
haven’t been living like it’s vital and you can tell because we haven’t been
seeking it
c. Psalm 105:3-Let the
hearts of those rejoice who seek and require the Lord [as their indispensable necessity] – There’s
nothing that can replace wisdom
2.
We
are told in the word to value this direction and leading from the
Spirit-Proverbs 4:6
a. Prov8:11-Wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired
are not to be compared to it
b. Proverbs 3:14-15-For the
merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain
thereof than fine gold. She is more
precious than rubies: and all the things you can desire are not to be compared
to her.
c. Is the wisdom of God, the
leading of Spirit a MUST to you or is it just secondary; because if it’s not a
must you won’t get it
3.
Seeing
the value of a thing creates a desire for that thing (Prov3:13-24,
4:6-9, 8:17-21,34-35)
a. The more led by the
Spirit you are the more free, sanctified, experience, victory, ect
b. Jesus only said what he
heard and did what he saw; he wouldn’t move w/o it, it was a requirement to him;
he knew the value of wisdom and he sought after it and got it
B. Crave-You don’t seek for something you don’t desire
1.
Isaiah
55:1-3-If you get hungry for direction and come to God you’ll get it
a. Thirst represents an
appetite for a thing
b. He’s commanding you to
come to Him and hear
2.
Proverbs
16:26-He that labors, labors for himself;
for his mouth craves it of him
a. MSG-Appetite is an incentive to work; hunger makes you walk
all the harder
b. Hunger for a thing urges
you to do what ever is necessary to obtain it
3.
Proverbs
2:2-6-The desire you have to hear from God and be led of His Spirit will have a
lot to do without whether or not you obtain it
a. If the desire for wisdom
is weak, then wisdom will not be sought for and found
b. Proverbs 8:17-NLV-Those
who look for me with much desire
C. Strive after-What you desire you will strive after, doing
everything necessary to find it
1.
Hunger
for a thing always motivates the action necessary to obtain it
a. Engage the keys to being
led, acquiring wisdom (Look to Him, make time for Him)
2.
Part
of seeking is a persistent, continuing pursuit until you obtain what you desire
a. Proverbs 8:17-ASV-Those
that seek me diligently shall find me
b. Diligence is a requirement not an option to see and hear
c. If you are constant in
your effort in seeking direction you
will acquire it
3.
Luke
19:3-Seeking to see changed his life
a. The moment he was seeking
to see he encountered resistance
1)
Don’t
stop seeking just b/c you asked for direction and thought you didn’t get it
a)
2
Chronicles 20:3-You have to set yourself to seek
2)
Stay
in His face, go to him for everything, don’t be moved by what you didn’t hear;
if you’re not going to get direction from him don’t let it be b/c you didn’t
seek him; You’re job is to seek, His job is to direct: DO YOUR JOB
a)
1 Chronicles 16:11-Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually
b)
Psalm 27:8-When thou said, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face,
LORD, will I seek.
b. He was hungry to see
Jesus because he knew the value of seeing and has a result he did everything
necessary to see
c. Not only did he see
Jesus, Jesus talked to him, showed him stuff, gave him wisdom
d. You want to know who gets
God’s attention: People seeking to see and hear
D. Demand-As you seek something with all your heart you’re demanding
that you find it
1.
You
are now engaging a spiritual law that which no circumstance can stop-Proverbs8:17
a. EX: When you engage the
law of lift, it demands you fly
2.
When
you are engaging what God has told you to do your actions are demanding that
the Holy Spirit to do His part; you’re placing a demand on his ministry
III.
Principles of seeking-If
Jesus is going to succeed in this situation he needs wisdom and to get wisdom
he’s going to have to seek it; Let’s look at how Jesus sought wisdom-John 8
A. In every situation train yourself to look inside for direction before
you do anything
1.
Before
Jesus does anything he is looking, listening and seeking first because he knows
that wisdom is the principle thing-Proverbs 4:5-7
2.
Train
yourself to immediately look inside rather than to your own understanding-Pr3:5
a. Looking for the answer in
your head is like fishing in the bath tub; it isn’t in there
b. Develop a conditioned response to look inside first (This is
how Jesus did it)
1)
I
only say what I hear and do what I see so before I say anything I have to hear
it and before I do anything I have to see it, so I have to look inside first
before I move
c. Build I life that’s
dependent on His direction and wisdom, not your own understanding
3.
Don’t
assume you know what to do: A seeker
never assumes---Assumers don’t see,
assumers don’t hear because assumers don’t seek
a. If you assume that you
know what to do and just start doing something you’ll miss direction from the
Holy Spirit; As you stop and look to him and seek him you give Him place in your
life to give you direction-(Prov3-Lean not to your own
understanding)
4.
Certainly
Jesus could’ve been tempted to think, I know how to handle this; He had
understanding of the word, he had seen awesome things in his ministry
a. John 8:26-Je didn’t
assume that what he had to say was right
B. You have to slow down to
seek-James 1:19
1.
Be
quick to hear, to seek; be slow to speak or act
a. I got to get it from the
Holy Spirit first so there’s no need to get a big hurry
b. The reality is that until
you hear and see you have nothing to say or do
c. There should be no
talking without hearing first, there should be no doing without first seeing;
hearing and seeing are first, talking and doing are second
2.
Be
determined to do nothing until you first hear from God
a. If you move to quickly
you’re going to miss the direction and miss it-Proverbs 19:2
b. Seekers never hurry,
until they’ve heard from God
C. Don’t allow negative
emotions to keep you from seeking for the direction you need
1.
Rather
than yielding to negative emotions seek the Holy Spirit for direction
a. While you’re yielding to negative
emotions you are not seeking Him
b. Use that spiritual energy
your using to be frustrated to seek him instead
2.
1
Samuel 30:1-8-If you sought Him, you’d get it and if you got it and yielded to
it, you’d see victory and wouldn’t have anything to be frustrated about
D. Seekers are separators;
Lookers and listeners are separators
1.
If
you’re going to seek or aim for God you have to focus solely on Him and
separate from everything else-Matthew 14:13,23,Mark 9:2
a. Aiming involves separating yourself from everything
else and looking only unto him
b. Jesus wrote in the ground
as though he didn’t hear them; he’s separated
2.
You
can be in a situation where all hell is breaking loose & be totally
separate from it
a. You must separate
yourself from your feelings, what you want, what people are saying, what the
devil is saying and put your focus and God and aim for direction from Him
b. John 5:30 AMP-I am
able to do nothing from Myself [but only as I get
orders]. [I decide as I am told to decide. As the voice comes to Me, I give a
decision], and My judgment is right (just, righteous), because I do not seek or consult My own will [I have no
desire to do what is pleasing to Myself, My own aim, My own purpose]
3.
He’s not aloof or
unaware of what’s going on, but He doesn’t allow what’s going on to dictate
what he does
IV.
Actions that have there
origin in God you will find to be timely, effective, and yielding victory in
the face of any situation; that’s why seekers succeed-2 Chronicles 20
A. People who don’t seek wisdom
end up being the origin of their own actions and consequently what they do is
futile and void of power
1.
John
5:30-MSG-I can’t do a solitary thing on my own: I
listen, then I decide. If I were simply speaking on my
own account, it would be an empty, self-serving witness.
2.
Success
begins with seeking; People who are smart enough to not move without seeking
God first will find themselves coming out on top in every situation
3.
In
the state that they are in they could have decided to do a bunch of different
things to respond to this attack, but anything that they do that doesn’t
originate from God will be futile and void of power so that best thing that
they can do is seek God, get wisdom from Him and allow their actions to
originate with Him
4.
3-Four
principles of seeking; He’s looking inside, He’s not in a hurry to just do
something, He isn’t allowing negative emotions to keep him from seeking, and he
is separated
B. 3-5-Wisdom is the
principal thing to him
1.
He
must value this wisdom and be hungry for it
2.
Set
himself to seek the look-There’s persistence in that an unwillingness to move
in that
C. 12-This the place you
want you totally dependent upon God and you know it
1.
Give
not the circumstances the honor of your gaze
2.
12-We
need to stop seeking God to do something and start seeking Him about what we
should do-This is a co-laboring
D. 14-The same Holy Spirit
who reveals wisdom and leads into truth
1.
This
is the wisdom of God and it will lead them to the experience of what was
promised
2.
18-19-This
is a faith response knowing we got what we need
3.
It’s
not time to stay home tomorrow, it’s time to do what God said
E. 22-The Lord didn’t begin
until they began to do what He said
1.
Why
did this great victory happen? Because the first thing they did was seek
F. He starts this session of
seeking, by creating and atmosphere of faith
1.
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
2.
14-When
the atmosphere of faith was created the Spirit of God showed up and delivered
the wisdom of God-James 1:5
3.
If
you want to see and hear you have to create and maintain an atmosphere of faith