A pastor’s words for the people he serves..

Note: I wrote these posts to help the people I serve at my local church. We’ve started a two month journey of fasting and praying 4 prayers. But feel free to read along even if you’re not part of our church. I pray you find my words helpful.

Prayers #1, #3, and #4 in our prayer journey assume God speaks to us today…assume he will talk to us about areas of obedience and about our future.

But what if I don’t hear God speak to me?

If you’re someone who feels you never hear God speak to you, I’ve thought of 8 possible reasons you’re hearing God. This list is not exhaustive but it’s a good starting point.

For the next 8 posts, we will consider a few possibilities.

The first possible reason you’re not hearing God:

1. You’re not a Christian.

Jesus said “My sheep listen to my voice” (John 10:27). Jesus implies that he uses his voice to speak to his sheep. If you never hear God talking to you, maybe you’re not one of his sheep.

Am I saying God only talks to Christians? Of course not. God speaks to people all over the earth every day in all sorts of ways. But Jesus makes clear “his sheep” (read: “his followers”) are those who listen to his voice. To be a follower of Jesus is to be someone who listens to him talking. So if you never hear Jesus talking to you, it seems fair to ask if you’re a Christian at all.

It’s possible you’ve deceived yourself into some sort of ‘salvation by works.’ You think you’re a Christian because you go to church, put money in the offering plate, because you’re a nice person, because you’ve never cheated on your spouse, etc. But if you haven’t put your trust in Jesus as the one and only person who can save you and forgive you of all your sins, you’re not one of his sheep. If you don’t daily follow Jesus wherever he leads, the way sheep follow their shepherd, maybe you’re not a Jesus-follower at all.

Stop now and ask Jesus to show you if you are really one of his followers. I believe that’s a question he is happy to answer. If you hear him say “Yes,” tell Jesus you’d like to hear his voice more clearly. If you hear him say “No,” tell Jesus you want to start following him now. Tell Jesus you want him to take control of every part of your life.

After you’ve talked to Jesus, send me a message to share your prayer. I’d love to talk about your new journey following Jesus.

Note: Our church is fasting and praying these 4 prayers November 3-January 3. If you’re not familiar with the prayers, read that post first.

It seems like I get sick a lot and rarely feel like I’m running on full steam. I struggle to get out of bed every day. I keep a coffee maker in our bathroom. As soon as I get out of bed, I start brewing coffee and gulping down my daily dose of caffeine. So I went in for a physical a few weeks ago. The doctor’s office told me to fast for at least 8 hours before arriving for my blood work. In order to more accurately asses what’s going on inside my body, I had to abstain from anything that could throw off the diagnostic tests. All I could have for breakfast was black coffee. Luckily, I like black coffee.
I think that’s a helpful metaphor to explain the spiritual purpose of fasting. I often can’t clearly see what’s going on in my own (spiritual) heart. Really, that shouldn’t be surprising. In the Old Testament book of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 17:9), it says “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? ”

I guess that’s why David prayed “Search me, God, and know my heart (Psalm 139:23).” When I add fasting to my prayer life, I often more clearly hear God teaching me about my heart…thoughts, attitudes, and actions he’s pleased with and others he wants to change or remove. Jesus is always willing to share the results of his spiritual diagnostic tests on my heart. In some mysterious way I don’t fully understand, fasting spiritually and mentally prepares me for hearing Jesus’ words. Of course, that’s not the only benefit to fasting. But we’ll discuss other benefits in later posts.

I’ve challenged our church to fast November 3 – January 3. Some will fast from food. Those who can’t fast from food for medical reasons will be fasting from other things. Some will fast every day, while others may choose to fast from something one day a week. Ask God to show you how you should fast during this time. As you fast, you may suddenly hear Jesus talking to you about things you’ve previously been deaf to hearing.

There are several examples where the Bible uses the language of hunger and thirst to describe our longing for God. You might find these Bible verses helpful during your fast.

Our church is fasting and praying these 4 prayers November 3-January 3:

1. Pray Jesus will make you more obedient to Him.
2. Pray Jesus will increase your love for Him.
3. Pray Jesus will show you if He has called Pastor Chris to lead this church into the future.
4. Pray Jesus will show you if He has called you to stay with this church in the future.

Jesus said the greatest commandment was to “love” God, not “obey” God. So aren’t the first two prayers out of order?

First, I’ve challenged our church to pray these prayers concurrently, not consecutively. It’s not like I start praying #2 after God has answered #1. I’m praying all these prayers at the same time.
Second, “love” can be confusing. I love any dessert that has cinnamon as a main ingredient. I love my wife. I love my dog. I love God. At least, I think I love God. How do I know if I love God? What if it doesn’t always feel like I love God? Do I still love him?

In the Bible Jesus said “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching (John 14:23).  If we pray these prayers, and we allow God to answer these prayers in us however he wants to answer them, our increased obedience to God will increase our love for God. And our increased love for God will increase our obedience to God.

But if you’re like me, you feel you love God but you’re not always obedient. Or maybe you’re like my toddler son, who doesn’t want to obey until he’s had “one more minute” of playing. Is Jesus calling you to obey him about something? Have you ignored him or told him, “one more minute” instead of choosing to immediately obey?

Stop right now and ask Jesus if there’s something he wants you to do, or stop doing. If he shows you something, commit to obey him immediately.

On Sunday I challenged our church to two months of prayer and fasting. I called each person to fast and pray 4 specific prayers from November 3 through January 3. If you weren’t able to join us Sunday, here are the 4 prayers:

1. Pray Jesus will make you more obedient to Him.
2. Pray Jesus will increase your love for Him.
3. Pray Jesus will show you if He has called Pastor Chris to lead this church into the future.
4. Pray Jesus will show you if He has called you to stay with this church in the future.

I look forward to the stories people will share Sunday, January 3 about how Jesus has answered these 4 prayers! God speaks to us every day. But are we listening? I’m excited to hear what he says to us about these 4 prayers.