Source: Lee Venden: 2007-01-20: "The Master's Voice"
From WhyNotWiki
Today's message is an encouragement for anyone who, like me, is disappointed about how prayer often seems like a one-way monologue and is tempted to believe that God is not interested in communicating with us.
The theme of the service today was that of shepherds, so that is why the sermon title is "The Master's Voice". The children's feature was based on the parable of the lost sheep in Matthew 18:12-14 (NIV).
"What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost." Matthew 18:12-14 (NIV)
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Pastor Venden had a guest named Brent come up and share a testimony. The pastor had prayed as he was preparing for this sermon that God would put a name into his head of someone who would be willing to share a testimony about how God had worked in their life. And God answered his prayer: he put Brent's name in his head. And when he called Brent, he discovered that Brent had prayed that same morning for a chance to share his testimony! Coincidence or two answered prayers?
Brent first told the story of a [friend] who had had a pretty impressive answer to prayer while outside enjoying nature. This friend was walking through a forest and admiring some birds that were singing nearby. He thought himself, "I can't wait until I get to heaven and can study birds up close. I'll be able to stick out my finger and have a bird come and rest on it!" No sooner had he finished thinking that than he felt God impressing him to do just that: "You don't have to wait until heaven: stick out your finger!" He probably wasn't quite sure what to make of it, and he said he felt kind of silly walking through the forest with his finger sticking out, but he did it. And to his amazement, a bird soon flew over and rested on his outstretched finger. He rested there looking at him for a good minute, while this lucky bird watcher looked at this bird that was right up close sitting on his hand. I don't know about you, but I believe that God orchestrated that to happen. God definitely has a sense of humor.
Brent then related his own close encounter with the feathered kind. He was in his backyard watching and admiring a hummingbird that was flying around some of his bushes. His friend's story came to mind and he wondered, hesitantly, if God would do the same thing for him. I don't remember if he explicitly asked God or just wondered to himself, but either way God heard him and responded... He heard God impressing in his mind "lie down!". He didn't really want to lie down, because he knew if he moved, the hummingbird would fly away. That and his wife might see him and think he was crazy (and lock him out of the house)! But he did it anyway. He lay down -- on his stomach from the sounds of it -- facing the bush where the hummingbird was. The bird did fly away. But it was soon back, and it flew around right in front of his face for "a while", right there close enough for him to have touched it, was the impression I got. He obviously felt that this was the Lord speaking to him, answering the (perhaps unspoken) question in his heart. I believe that too. I don't think he was making it up.
Pastor Venden put in a "plug" for the practice of journaling -- prayer journaling, specifically. This is the practice of writing down your prayers and recording God's responses to them. It's a record of your interaction (both directions) with him. You can write sketchy notes or long paragraphs -- either one will work, he says. Why would you want to prayer journal? It provides you with a record of evidence so that (1) you don't forget his answers to your prayers (for those times when you get discouraged and begin doubting that he even does answer prayers), and (2) so that will be able to see a pattern in the way that God has answered your prayers/spoken to you in the past so that you will learn what his voice "sounds like" and be able to recognize it when it comes again. It is so easy to forget about God's past answers to prayers unless you write them down.
Another reason to prayer journal: it slows you down. This could easily be seen as an excuse to not do it ("I'm too busy to take the time to write everything down"), but we should really look at the fact that it slows us down as a good thing rather than a bad thing. We really would do well to slow down and take your time as we intentionally spend time with God.
"Be still, and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10 (NIV)
He told the story of Chuck Swindoll's [I'm pretty sure that's who he said] daughter, who came to him one day and said rapidly, "Daddy, Daddy, I'm going to tell you something really fast!" Her father laughed (and probably realized that it was because he was always so busy that his daughter felt the she had to be very brief and not take much of his time) and said, "You don't have to tell me fast! You can take as long as you want and tell me slowly." To which his daughter replied, "Okay, Daddy,... But you have to listen to me slow!" (Category:Good quotes/Category:Almost quote)
Do you really want to hear from God? Do you want to commune with him? ... What do your actions say about it? (Do you listen? Do you take the time to seek him?)
Is prayer a monologue, or can it also be a dialogue? Here are seven ways (and there are others) that I believe God uses to communicate with us:
[edit] 1. Nature
We refer to it as his "second book", but it is actually his first: God created nature many years before the Scriptures were ever written.
The Holy Spirit speaks to us with lessons and analogies (such as parables) that can be found in nature.
Example: see the story of the birds above
Example: Pastor Venden told the story of how one day as he was out hiking he was "whining" to God, wondering how God could use such a flawed person as he felt that he was to do His work. Just then, he looked down and saw a muddy mud puddle, which, although very dirty, provided a perfect reflection of the beautiful sky above. The Spirit was speaking to him, teaching him a lesson.
[edit] 2. Providential circumstances
"In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths" Proverbs 3:6 (NIV)
He told the story of when his wife, Marji, was seriously considering going back to school so she could become a teacher but wasn't sure if it was God's will. The way that they determined if it was God's will was by enrolling in the class and watching whether or not God provided the money that they needed for the class, but didn't have. If she didn't pay by a certain date, her registration would be dropped and she wouldn't be in the class. If it was God's will, then he would provide the money. They were again reminded of a fact that they had observed about God's timing: "God is never late,... but he's seldom early." Category:Good quotes On the last day before the deadline, two letters containing money arrived in the mail. The first was a refund because they had paid too much on their mortgage or something. The second one was from an anonymous donor who wrote and said that they didn't know what it was for her but felt impressed that Marji needed this money ($200). Wow. That's an amazing answer to prayer.
[edit] 3. Music
God can speak to us through music.
"He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God." Psalm 40:3 (NIV)
Story: Pastor Venden had recorded this encounter with God in his prayer journal from a time when he was feeling like a failure (paraphrase): God's message to him: "My grace is sufficient for you. I am your heavenly Father. Do you give up on your children when they don't have it all together? The only difference between you and me is that I go exponentially further with you than you go with your children. You don't write your kids off when they fail. I don't write you off either." And then he felt impressed by God to listen to a particular song, one that seemed to have just the message he needed to hear. The lyrics were "I will wait for you."
[edit] 4. People
"Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." 1Peter 4:10 (NIV)
While he was on sabbatical, Pastor Venden's son delivered a stack of mail to him. One of the envelopes contained an (anonymous) letter that said, "We don't miss you. In fact, we hope you don't come back." But God must have arranged the letters in a certain order, because the very next letter in the stack was something encouraging to keep him from being too discouraged by the first letter. This second letter read, ~ "We miss you while you're on sabbatical. My kids always looks forward to hearing your sermons, because they can actually understand them. Enjoy the rest of your time and we look forward to having you back here."
If you feel impressed to say or write something to a friend, do it! Don't wait, just do it. Even if it's really late, like a year later than you meant to do it.
Story: Pastor Venden saw a letter that he hadn't responded to yet. So, feeling apologetic about his slow reply, he wrote, "Sorry this is so late..." But the timing turned out to be impeccable -- even God-arranged, perhaps! On the day the letter was received, it was the anniversary of the recipient's daughter's death (if I recall correctly) and the letter was a great source of encouragement on a day when she was very down. She responded, "It wasn't late at all! It was right on time."
[edit] 6. Inspired reading
"A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver." Proverbs 25:11 (NIV)
If you want to listen to God, there's no better place to hear it than in his Word. It doesn't matter how many times you read it before: his Word is dynamic. He finds new ways of speaking to us through the same verses even if we've read them before.
Story: Pastor Venden was reading sequentially through the Bible and was at the moment in the book of 1 Chronicles. He really didn't expect to find anything inspiring in his reading there. But he did. And not just anything, but a message written seemingly just for him, just for that day. It was the day of Nominating Committee, one of his least favorite times of the year (because he had to hear from one person after another the same disappointing response to an invitation to serve in some position in the church: "I'm sorry, but I really don't have the time right now to serve the church." "I'm sorry, but I can't help -- I'm just too busy."). This is the message of encouragement he found in the book of 1 Chronicles that day: "Consider now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a temple as a sanctuary. Be strong and do the work." 1Chronicles 28:10 (NIV) What makes it even harder to believe that it was just coincidence is the fact that it happened again the next year! He was again reading through the Bible sequentially that next year and again the time of nominating committee just happened to coincide with his reading of 1 Chronicles and he again read that specific verse on the same day as nominating committee! What are the chances of that happening by luck two years in a row? I think it was God's way of communicating with him.
[edit] 7. Thoughts and impressions
Pastor Venden was watching an open-brain surgery on TV or something and the person being operated on in this case had had only a local anesthetic, so he was still conscious as they operated on his brain. He found it interesting that as certain areas of his brain were [touched], it would bring back memories in the mind of the patient. So he wondered, ~ "if a surgeon can cause things to come to mind in someone's brain just by touching the brain, then why couldn't God to the same thing in my brain to communicate with me?" So he asked God to please communicate with him by impressing a thought in his mind.
He was on his knees praying soon after that request, but his mind was distracted by a home-improvement project he wanted to get done in his kitchen. He wanted to replace the counter or something in his kitchen, and he was anxious to get started on this project as soon as he could. Yet he heard a distinct impression in his mind telling him, "Don't install the counter today." He thought himself, "How do I know that was you and not just some random thought?" The reply came, "You will know by sundown tonight." He decided to go ahead with the project anyway, expecting it to only take about an hour. Instead, it took all day! Just five minutes before sundown he finished the project. And immediately he remembered what God had told him that morning. Now he felt as if Khyber telling him "Now you know that it was me telling you that and not just your own thoughts."
