Series: “Be Still & Hear God” - Part 1
"God Wants to Talk to You"
Pastor Jerry
Luke 8:4-15
------------------------------------- Message Synopsis -------------------------------------
We’re beginning a new series today.
It’s about hearing God when He speaks to you. In this series we’re going to look at how do you know when it’s God talking to you?
How do you hear God?
I often listen to Christian music on the radio. But I have to tune it in to a certain station, if I’m still going to hear anything.
You’ve got to be tuned in.
The point is God has given you the capacity to hear Him. All the equipment that you already need to hear God you’re got.
You just have to learn how to tune God in. That’s what we’re going to learn about in this series.
Some of you may be too young to remember this but back in the 70s before cell phones there was a fad called CB radios. They were saying things like
“10-4 good buddy… Put the pedal to the metal… Smoky the Bear is in the woods…” One of the phrases was
“Got your ears on?” That meant
“Are you tuned in to hear me?” That phrase wasn’t original with CB radios. Actually Jesus said it 2000 years ago. Jesus says
“He who has ears to hear let him hear.” He’s talking about the fact that:
Jesus says. I’ve already given you the ability to hear Me. But you need to tune into Me.”
Jesus told the story about how to tune in. It’s called the
Parable of the Sower.
Fortunately Jesus explains the story and tells us the meaning of all the parts. He says this:
The farmer represents God. And the seed represents God wanting to talk to you – God’s word to you. The soil represents four different attitudes that you can have toward hearing from God. Now let’s look at how to prepare to hear God’s voice. There’s 4 things in this story.
- If you want to hear God speak you must first cultivate an open mind.
What does that mean? It means you’ve got to be receptive. You’ve got to be willing. Many people
don’t believe God will speak to people.” It is amazing to me how many people in this world are not even open to the possibility that God will speak to them.
This is what Jesus talked about in the first kind of soil – the footpath soil. Luke 8:5 He says,
“A farmer went out to sow his seed and as he was scattering the seed some fell along the path and the birds of the air ate it up.” On a farm there are footpaths where workers trampled down the soil and it becomes really hard. And if some of that seed that the farmer’s throwing out happens to land on the hard compacted soil of the footpath there’s no way it’s going to take root. It just lays on top until a bird comes along and eats it.
Jesus gives us the meaning of this in verse 12. He says
“Those along the footpath are the ones who hear. And then the devil comes along and takes away the word from their heart so that they cannot believe and be saved.”
Do you know any anyone who have a closed mind or a hard heart. They act as if they don’t need God. This first kind of soil,
the hard soil represents a closed mind.
If you want to hear God speak to you, first you need to cultivate an
open mind.
- You’ve got to allocate time to listen.
That means you’ve got to be still …slow down. You’ve got to make time to be quiet. You’ve got to put it in your schedule so you have time to hear God speak.
The second barrier to hearing God speak is
being too busy. We say,
“God, I want to hear from You. Speak, God. But I’ve only got five minutes. So make it Quick!” God wants more than your spare moments.
God wants to be the center of your life.
Here’s the second kind of soil that Jesus talks about. Luke 8:6 He says
“Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. This seed began to grow but it soon withered and died for lack of moisture.”
In verse 13 He tells what it represents,
“The rocky soil represents those who hear the message with joy but like young plants in such soil their roots don’t go very deep. They believe for a while but they wilt when the hot winds of testing blow.” Jesus says the shallow soil represents a shallow mind. We get excited. We react emotionally. But we don’t let God’s word sink into the depth of our being.
Notice it says that these people have shallow roots. How do you get spiritual depth in your life? One,
schedule a daily time with God. In a quiet time you sit down, you read the Bible and
you listen to God speak. If you want to hear God’s voice you have to
cultivate an open mind. You have to
allocate time to listen.
- You must eliminate the distractions.
You can’t hear God when your mind is crowded with other thoughts, when your mind is crowded with worries and concerns and anxieties. You can’t hear God when your mind is filled with your dreams, your plans, filled with television, with your cell phone. When all this noise is going on you’re not going to hear God.
This is the third kind of soil. Jesus calls it the soil with weeds. In Luke 8:7 He says
“Other seed fell in the weeds and the weeds grew with it and strangled it.” Notice the seed sprout and actually starts growing but after a while it gets choked by the weeds so it never bares fruit.
In verse 14 Jesus tells us the meaning of this
“The seed that fell among the weeds stands for those who hear but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries and riches and pleasures and they don’t mature.”
You can be always on the go but going in circles.
There’s no fruit in your life. The Bible says these people are choked. Jesus says the distractions are like weeds that grow up in your life and choke out the ability for you to hear God. A weed is anything you allow to choke God out of your schedule. It could be a very good thing. But if it chokes God out of your life and robs you of time to hear God, it is a weed.
The first barrier to hearing God is
resistance. The second is
no time. The third is
busyness. You can get so distracted and so busy you don’t have time to hear God.
So this soil with weeds represents a crowded mind.
The fourth thing you have to do to prepare to hear God speaking is…
- Cooperate with what He says.
First, cultivate an
open mind; next, allocate
time to
listen; then, eliminate the
distractions; and finally, cooperate with
whatever He says.
God speaks to the person who says,
“Before You even talk to me, God, I’m telling You ok. God whatever You tell me, I’m going to do it.” God doesn’t speak to the person who says,
“God, tell me what You want to say and I’ll decide if it’s a good idea or not.” God speaks to the person who says,
“God, tell me what You want me to do, and before I even know, the answer is already YES!”
This is what the Bible calls the good soil. Verse 15
“The seed that fell in the good soil stands for those who hear the message and retain it in a good and obedient heart and they persist until they bear fruit.” How do you bear fruit? One way is pass it on. God says,
“I’ll talk to you and you talk to others. You pass it on and you’ll be My voice to other people.” That is bearing fruit.
This is the good soil we call this a willing mind.
The four things you have to do to prepare to hear God speaking is: First, cultivate an
open mind—expect God to speak; next, allocate
time to
listen—be still and schedule a devotion time each day; then, eliminate the
distractions—pull the weeds of noise that are chocking you; and finally, cooperate with
whatever God says—be eager to say yes to tell others there is a God…
His name is Jesus!
Jesus is asking… “do you hear me now?” “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
