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Scott Worthington
Why Should We Listen for God’s Voice?
When God Speaks
Jan 8, 2023Matthew 7:7-11
In this sermon, Pastor Scott teaches from Matthew 7:7-11. If God is really God and we are really His, then learning how to hear and respond to His voice is central to our lives as followers of Jesus. That is what we explore in this sermon.
Sermon Notes
When God Speaks
Why Should We Listen for God’s Voice?
If God is really God and we are really His, then learning how to hear and respond to His voice is central to our lives as followers of Jesus.
What we understand with our minds must make its way to being truly believed in our hearts, which will lead to it being actually lived out in our lives.
MATTHEW 7:7-11
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
- WE’VE BEEN INVITED INTO AN ACTIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
Present – The verb tense meaning it’s happening in the moment. “Right now.”
Active – The voice where the subject is doing the action. “We ask, we seek, we knock.”
Imperative – The mood that expresses a command. It’s God saying, “Do this!”
“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope…” Psalm 130:5
- Greedily – If I ask, seek, and knock, I will get whatever I want.
- Transactionally – If I ask, seek, and knock the right way, I will get whatever I want.
“You do not have, because you do not ask.” James 4:2b
“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” 1 John 5:14-15
"We revere the Bible, but don't read it. It is the best-selling, least-read book in America.” George Gallup Jr.
- WE'VE BEEN PROMISED ACTIVE RESPONSES FROM GOD
Future – The verb tense meaning it’s happening in the future. “It’s coming.”
Indicative – The mood that expresses an actual occurrence. “It WILL happen.”
- Intimacy with God
“And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” John 17:3
- Guidance from God
“Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am’…and the Lord will guide you continually…” Isaiah 58:9, 11a
- Pleasure in God
“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11
Matthew 7:9-11
Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
Here’s how I want to close:
WHAT YOU DO | WHAT GOD DOES
Ask | “It will be given”
Seek | “You will find”
Knock | “It will be opened to you”
"When we can't trace his hand, we can trust his heart." Charles Spurgeon
Sermon Notes
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