HeartQuest 101

Life is hard. We are not guaranteed a life of ease just because we have died to self and followed Christ. We expect his hedge of protection and we often find hardship and pain in everyday life: we are involved in an auto accident, our job is lost, our health declines, our promotion falls through, our expenses exceed our income, our teenagers rebel and make poor choices that will affect the rest of their lives… It’s a burden, yes, and God wants us to cast our cares on him because he cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). We complain to God and let him know that we think this life is unfair and it stinks. Remember this, he is big enough to take all of our complaints, the Bible is full of people who questioned what God was doing in their lives (Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Job). There’s no sin in speaking out to God, but we need to get an eternal perspective.

I found this awesome message in a song called “Held” by Christian music artist Natalie Grant:

Two months is too little. They let him go.
They had no sudden healing.
To think that providence would take a child from his mother while she prays, is appalling.

Who told us we’d be rescued?
What has changed and why should we be saved from nightmares?
We’re asking why this happens to us who have died to live?
It’s unfair.

Chorus:
This is what it means to be held.
How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life and you survive.
This is what it is to be loved.
And to know that the promise was when everything fell we’d be held.

This hand is bitterness.
We want to taste it, let the hatred know our sorrow.
The wise hand opens slowly to lilies of the valley and tomorrow.

Bridge:
If hope is born of suffering.
If this is only the beginning.
Can we not wait for one hour watching for our Savior?

When Bethany crashed on her bike years ago, she did not sit there on the driveway and complain that I did not care about her, that it was a bit casual of me to allow this to happen to her, or worse, that I sent this accident to teach her some sort of a lesson. She wanted daddy to run to her and hold her and reassure her that she was not alone and everything was going to be alright. Does not God do the same for us? Faith sustains us during the hard times of life, especially that this life is not all that there is.

I recently received this interesting story that puts hardships into perspective:

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. Every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions.

One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling up to the sky. He felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost. He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger. He cried out, “God! How could you do this to me?”

Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island! It had come to rescue him! “How did you know I was here?” asked the weary man of his rescuers. “We saw your smoke signal,” they replied.

So, the moral of this story? It’s easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn’t lose heart, because God is still at work in our lives, even in the midst of our pain and suffering. Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be burning to the ground. It just may be a smoke signal that summons the grace of God.

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I am a fan of listening to Christian radio, and the station in town for me is 90.7 FM. I often hear a group called Third Day who has a new song out entitled Revelation, which is on target regarding the topic of seeking direction from God. Check out these lyrics:

My life has led me down the road that’s so uncertain,
And now I am left alone and I am broken,
Trying to find my way, trying to find the faith that’s gone.
This time I know that you are holding all the answers,
I’m tired of losing hope and taking chances,
On roads that never seem to be the ones that bring me home.

 

(Chorus)
Give me a revelation, show me what to do,
Cause I’ve been trying to find my way, I haven’t got a clue.
Tell me should I stay here, or do I need to move?
Give me a revelation,
I’ve got nothing without You,
I’ve got nothing without You.

 

My life has led me down this path that’s ever winding,
Through every twist and turn I’m always finding,
That I am lost again,
Tell me when this road will ever end.

 

(Chorus)

 

I don’t know where I can turn, tell me when will I learn?
Won’t You show me where I need to go?
Let me follow Your lead,
I know that it’s the only way that I can get back home.

Do you ever feel like that? These are powerful words of a man in desperate need to hear from God; one who desires to make the right choice. You might notice that the theme verse for my site is Jeremiah 29:13… I like that, “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” He’s not in a cosmic hide and seek game, but He will only be found by those who earnestly seek Him. If one only wants to casually look for God, no wonder He can’t be found.

So, just how do we find direction in life? Psalm 119:105 is a good starting point. Get into God’s Word, it helps us develop a heart like His and gives us wisdom to make good choices.

How often do we pray for direction and wonder if God ever heard our prayers? At times I pour out my heart to God in prayer seeking His will for some area in my life. Then I hear nothing; just silence, like my prayer never made it past the ceiling. So, not wanting to wait, I press on ahead in my own strength, failing to sit and wait. After all, there’s no time to wait, because I need to act now, someone needs an answer.

Yet, when I examine Scripture, God consistently teaches us to sit, pray, and wait.

• Jesus began His ministry by fasting forty days alone in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11).
• He spent an entire night alone in prayer before choosing His twelve disciples (Luke 6:12).
• Esther fasted and prayed for three days before she took the bold and courageous step of going before the king on behalf of her people, knowing it could mean her death (Esther 4:8-16).
• Elijah went into the wilderness for forty days to hear the “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:11-18).

What do these great people of faith teach us? In order to know God’s leading and to hear His voice, we must listen and wait. Maybe we think God is silent because we never take the time to sit in God’s Word and simply wait.

Do you need direction right now? Try following these steps:

Read God’s Word: 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says that Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. The Spirit of God was actively involved in the writing of Scripture. It is the authoritative Word of God written to speak truth into your life.

Study God’s Word: 2 Timothy 2:15 says that we are to correctly handle the word of truth. When you study the Bible, He plants His Word deep within your heart. His Spirit then takes the Word and bends your heart in His direction, enabling you to hear His Voice.

Pray God’s Word: Isaiah 55:11 says that God’s Word will not return to Him empty, but will accomplish what He desires, and it achieves the purposes for which He sent it. When you pray in faith, you hold God’s Word back up to Him in prayer. You put Him in remembrance of His Word, and His promise is that Word will not return void, accomplishing that which He purposes and pleases. George Muller taught me to pray the Scripture back to God. He spoke the Scripture back to God in prayer with boldness. You must be using the right words when you quote God’s own words back to Him!

How does God want to move in your life? Are you seeking revelation? Tell God that you haven’t got a clue and you need His intervention.

Search His Word for verses that speak to your situation. Write them down on a card, commit them to memory, and pray them back to God. Wait and watch for God to do a mighty work. Share your with the Men of Steel. We can celebrate God’s faithfulness with you.

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I read a great book on the life of George Muller of Bristol, a guy who ran several orphanages in the mid-nineteenth century in England. He was a man of extraordinary prayer. He believed that God was his provider. He was so convinced that God alone would supply the needs of the hundreds of orphans under his care, that he would not even mention the needs publicly where men would be able to supply the needs. In 1841, he would not even publish the annual report for the organization, knowing that people would read about the needs and cough up donations due to what they read.

• How often do we believe that the more people we have praying the more likely our prayers will be answered favorably?
• When we have needs, how often to we publicize those needs so that others with the gift of giving would have opportunity to respond?
• How often do we pray to God alone, in secret, in our inner chamber, and wait in humble anticipation for God to come through? 

The story below is taken from George Muller of Bristol, by Arthur Pierson, Revell, pp. 180-182 (I did not even find a publishing date in the copy I have!). The introduction was written in 1899 by James Wright, Muller’s son-in-law and successor to the work of George Muller.

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It was in December of this same year, 1841, that, in order to show how solely dependence was placed on a heavenly Provider, it was determined to delay for a while both the holding of any, public meeting and the printing of the Annual Report. Mr. Muller was confident that, though no word should be either spoken or printed about the work and its needs, the means would still be supplied. As a matter of fact the report of 1841-2 was thus postponed for five months; and so, in the midst of deep poverty and partly because of the very pressure of such need, another bold step was taken, which, like the cutting away of the ropes that held the life-boat, in that Mediterranean shipwreck, threw Mr. Muller, and all that were with him in the work, more completely on the promise and the providence of God.

It might be inferred that, where such a decision was made, the Lord would make haste to reward at once such courageous confidence. And yet, so mysterious are His ways, that never, up to that time, had Mr. Muller’s faith been tried so sharply as between December 12, 1841, and April 12, 1842. During these four months, again, it was as though God were saying, “I will now see whether indeed you truly lean on Me and look to Me.” At any time during this trial, Mr. Muller might have changed his course, holding the public meeting and publishing the report, for, outside the few who were in his councils, no one knew of the determination, and in fact many children of God, looking for the usual year’s journal of ‘The Lord’s Dealings,’ were surprised at conclusion conscientiously reached was, for the glory of the Lord, as steadfastly pursued, and again Jehovah Jireh revealed His faithfulness.

During this four months, on March 9, 1842, the need was so extreme that, had no help come, the work could not have gone on. But, on that day, from a brother living near Dublin, ten pounds came: and the hand of the Lord clearly appeared in this gift, for when the post had already come and no letter had come with it, there was a strong confidence suggested to Mr. Muller’s mind that deliverance was at hand; and so it proved, for presently the letter was brought to him, having been delivered at one of the other houses. During this same month, it was necessary once to delay dinner for about a half-hour, because of a lack of supplies. Such a postponement had scarcely ever been known before, and very rarely was it repeated in the entire after-history of the work, though thousands of mouths had to be daily fed.

In the spring of 1843, Mr. Muller felt led to open a fourth orphan house, the third having been opened nearly six years before. This step was taken with his uniform conscientiousness, deliberation, and prayerfulness. He had seen many reasons for such enlargement of the work, but he had said nothing about the matter even to his beloved wife. Day by day he waited on God in prayer, preferring to take counsel only of Him, lest he might do something in haste, move in advance of clear leading, or be biased unduly by human judgment.

Unexpected obstacles interfered with his securing the premises which had already been offered and found suitable; but he was in no way ‘discomforted.’ The burden of his prayer was, “Lord, if Thou hast no need of another orphan house, I have none”; and he rightly judged that the calm deliberation with which he had set about the whole matter, and the unbroken peace with which he met new hindrances, were proofs that he was following the guidance of God and not the motions of self-will.

As the public meeting and the publication of the Annual Report had been purposely postponed to show that no undue dependence was placed even on indirect appeals to man, much special prayer went up to God, that, before July 15, 1844, when the public meeting was to be held, He would so richly supply all need that it might clearly appear that, notwithstanding these lawful means of informing His servants concerning the work had for a time not been used, the prayer of faith had drawn down help from above. As the financial year had closed in May, it would be more than two years since the previous report had been made to the public.

George Muller was jealous for the Lord God of hosts. He desired that “even the shadow of ground might be cut off for persons to say, ‘They cannot get any more while, during the whole progress of the work, he desired to stand with his Master, without heeding either the favourable or unfavourable judgments of men, he felt strongly that God would be much honoured and glorified as the prayer-hearing God if, before the public had been at all apprised of the situation, an ample supply might be given. In such case, instead of appearing to ask aid of men, he and his associates would be able to witness to the church and the world, God’s faithfulness, and offer Him the praise of joyful and thankful hearts. As he had asked, so was it done unto him. Money and other supplies came in, and, on the day before the accounts were closed, such liberal gifts, that there was a surplus of over twenty pounds for the whole work.

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Hearing God’s voice can be dangerous. That’s right. On one side you have someone discerning direction from God, perhaps through praying, reading the Bible, counseling with mature believers, etc. When this person actually “hears” from God, s/he is confronted with a choice… to obey or not to obey what is discovered. Following God’s will is often risky business! It is stepping out into new territory and taking steps of faith when you can’t see the outcome.

On the other side you have someone claiming to hear from God and this person firmly believes that God is telling him to do something that is contrary to His nature or His revealed Word. A dangerous scenario indeed; just look at religious extremists around the world.

Our ladies at King’s Grant Baptist have enjoyed Bible studies written by Priscilla Shirer. In her book, Can We Talk, she discusses how to better spend time in God’s Word, making it a two-way street of conversation. Listed here are the Five P’s of Hearing God’s Voice in Scripture: 

• Position yourself to hear from God: Practice solitude and silence. Although God can speak anywhere, hearing from Him is easier if distractions are lessened. (Habakkuk 2:1)
• Pour over the Scripture and paraphrase the major points:  You cannot skim over a passage if you expect God to speak! (James 1:25)
• Pull out the spiritual principles: What lesson is God teaching? What is God revealing about Himself?
• Pose the question: Form a directed question from each discovered principle. Does my life live out the message of the verse? What must I do to bring my life in line with this verse? Listen to the Holy Spirit as you answer.
• Plan obedience and pin down a date: The Bible tells us to obey (James 1:22). Don’t just hear from God and forget it! Record your steps and take action, respond to what God has shown you. 

The Christian life is based on obedience! Jesus said is well, basically, “How can you love me and not do what I say?” If we want to hear God’s voice, we must be willing and serious about obeying Him. 

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When I taught at Hargrave Military Academy, one of my students in the Bible class brought to my attention a site he found that mocked prayer and the existence of God by appealing to the readers as educated and intelligent people who, if they were honest, must come to the same conclusion as him, that God is imaginary and prayer is an illusion. The site’s point was that prayer does not work, after all, just notice all the starving children around the world or the lack of world peace, or some other prayer request we feel has gone unanswered.  

We cannot discount the man’s questions, but he comes to the wrong conclusion based on his preconceived belief that God is imaginary. His anti-God bias affects his conclusion. God’s apparent silence is not as it seems. We cannot forget that we live in a fallen world. 

The best of all possible worlds is a place where there is no sin yet we still have free will (to do good and to love God because we choose to). To me, this sounds like the Garden of Eden before the Fall and eventually heaven. This is opposed to exercising our free will by sinning or perhaps loving God with no free will; like a robot programmed to recite a recording of its “love” for God. But in order to get to this “best of all possible worlds” we have to allow those who choose to sin or use their freedom to not love God, the option of not going to heaven. They are weeded out, so to speak. This present world, I believe, is the best way to the best of all possible worlds! 

Before I go on a tangent about all the solid and rational evidence that God exists, let me conclude with these two quotes from Oswald Chambers regarding the point of prayer and the purpose of prayer: 

The point of prayer is not to get answers from God, but to have perfect and complete oneness with Him. If we pray only because we want answers, we will become irritated and angry with God. We receive an answer every time we pray, but it does not always come in the way we expect, and our spiritual irritation shows our refusal to identify ourselves truly with our Lord in prayer. We are not here to prove that God answers prayer, but to be living trophies of God’s grace. 

 

Prayer is not a normal part of the life of the natural man. We hear it said that a person’s life will suffer if he doesn’t pray, but I question that. What will suffer is the life of the Son of God in him, which is nourished not by food, but by prayer. When a person is born again from above, the life of the Son of God is born in him, and he can either starve or nourish that life. Prayer is the way that the life of God in us is nourished. Our common ideas regarding prayer are not found in the New Testament. We look upon prayer simply as a means of getting things for ourselves, but the biblical purpose of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself. 

If our understanding of prayer is faulty, no wonder this guy comes to the conclusion that God is imaginary and prayer is an illusion… he does not know what prayer is. He is like a child praying to God for candy, and when it does not miraculously show up, the child concludes that God must not exist.

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Here is a good quote about stepping out in faith… “The reason more people do not see Jordan Rivers parting in their lives and ministries is because they waver at the riverbank.  They want to be people of faith but they conclude it would be much easier if God would part the waters before they had to get their feet wet!”  — Henry Blackaby

This is significant for us because this spring we will embark on a church-wide Sunday School emphasis called, “If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat,” written by John Ortberg. Mainly for middle school through senior adults, but the children and preschoolers will also have special lessons on following Jesus in obedience.

The main lessons are:

• Principles of Water-walking
• The Tragedy of the Unopened Gift
• Find Your Calling and Get Your Feet Wet
• Facing Our Challenges and Conquering Our Fears
• Good News for Cave Dwellers
• Learning to Wait on Our Big God

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