Why Hear From God

Welcome to Worship in the Word with Pastor Robert Morris.

Thank you so much for joining us. Last time Pastor Robert began a new series titled Frequency. In this series he's explaining how God is speaking all the time and how we can tune in and hear his voice. I'm your host Janae and I'm here with my co-host Patrick.

Hey everybody. Well, today's message is why hear from God? And in it Pastor Robert will share how God's reasons for talking to us are often different than our reasons for wanting him to speak to us. Well let's dive right in as Pastor Robert shares how God doesn't speak to robots but speaks to people and friends.

Well I want to welcome all of you in the studio and I want to welcome those of you who are watching at home. I am sharing from a book that I wrote called Frequency Tune In Hear God. It is the number one question that I've been asked as a pastor is how can I hear God? And so I want to talk to you today about hearing God but today's teaching is I called it why hear from God. Why hear from God? And I think it might surprise you that God's reason for talking to us might be a little different than our reason from wanting to hear God. And so I want to just unpack this a little bit.

This comes from chapter two in the book Frequency. Why hear from God? Now our number one reason to hear from God probably is direction. God what do I do? What school do we put our children in? Where do we move?

Do I take this job? Which church do we go to? They're all great questions and I know God wants to give us direction but that's not his number one reason for communicating with us.

You know what I think it is? I'm going to say it a little differently than what we might think but it's friendship. God wants to have a relationship with you.

You know think about marriage. Debbie's okay with me giving her directions sometimes but that's not really why she wants to talk with me. She just wants to be my friend. She wants to have a relationship with me. I want to have a relationship with her.

I don't want her just to give me directions. I want to talk. Alright so I want to give you illustration about friendship okay. Let's say that you and I have been friends for a long time maybe like 30 years and you're in the hospital okay.

I don't want to be the one in the hospital in this illustration okay. So I just want to say that you had to be hospitalized for some reason. And so I come by the hospital and I drop some books off that I've written. You know we're talking about the book Frequency. I've written like 14 books. Now so let's say I drop some books off that that I've written at the front desk and I say hey someone's in the hospital would you give him these books to read.

And then you're there maybe a week. I never text you. I never call you.

I never come and see you personally. I just dropped off some books that I wrote for you to read okay. Or what if you're in the hospital and I come by on my way to work and I stop and talk with you for a while. And then I text you a few times during the day.

And then on my way home I stop by and visit with you for 30 minutes or so again. And I do that every day and then one day I like sneak in some fast food. Okay let's just take a little poll here in the studio. How many of you have ever have ever snuck food into a hospital.

Look at all the rules breakers. Alright so you're sitting there like no I'll never do that. Okay so so I and I visit with you okay so which type of friend would you want.

You'd want the second one right. A guy that's going to talk to you spend time with you right. Listen to me carefully. A lot of people think that God just dropped some books off that he wrote.

But he doesn't speak to us personally. Now I don't mean by this illustration and minimize this book obviously. This is this is infallible and inspired Word of God. It's life to those who find it health to their whole body sweeter and honey pure and gold sharpening two-edged sword. Okay I can go with all things about the word.

We need to read it every day. I'm just telling you that God's also a personal God. Okay so his reason I think is friendship. John 15 15 so it's really easy verse to remember because it's 15 15. John 15 15 Jesus said no longer do I call you servants for a servant does not know what his master is doing but I've called you friends for all things that I heard from my father I have made known to you or told you. So what's the difference a friend tells you what's going on tells you what he's doing talks to you see. So let me tell you three things about why hear from God and about being a friend of God.

Okay here's number one. God does not speak to robots. Now I know you think okay what is it what does that mean? Well he speaks to people. He did not create us as robots. He created us as people. He created us with emotions.

He created us in his image. Right there if you probably you maybe never thought about this you know like I have but we actually communicate two ways. We communicate personally and we communicate mechanically.

Now listen to me. We communicate with people personally but we communicate to machines mechanically. Now you're thinking I don't communicate to machines.

Yes you do. If you want your machine your computer to type the letter G you hit the letter G. If you want your computer to print something right you hit print. If you want your son help me you know got the computer all set up and all and I hit print and you know it said cannot find the printer.

I took the monitor and turned it I said it's right there. So we communicate when you're you communicate to your car mechanically right. Now you might speak to it but you can be if you want it to go you push the gas if you want to stop you push the brakes.

Is that is that right. All right so I want you know God doesn't communicate. Here's a reason I'm telling you this God does not communicate to us mechanically. We're not machines.

We're people. God communicates personally. God does not sit in heaven and push buttons. He speaks. So I want to show you a conversation and it's a little long the scripture but it's amazing. A conversation God had with someone he called his friend Abraham and he actually says he was called a friend of God. So Genesis 18 it starts in verse 17. And the Lord said shall I hide from Abraham what I'm doing since Abraham shall surely become a great mighty nation and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him for I have known him. In other words I have a relationship with I have a friendship with him in order that he may command his children and his household after him that they may keep the way of the Lord to do righteousness and justice that the Lord may bring Abraham what he has spoken to him what he has spoken to him. And the Lord said because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great because their sin is very grave I will go down now and see whether they have done all together according to the outcry against it and that has come to me.

And if not I will know. It says then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom but Abraham still stood before the Lord and Abraham came near and said would you also destroy the righteous. With the wicked. Okay here's the important when God first spoke there were other people around they left but Abraham didn't leave. He stayed and then he drew near real simple. If you want to hear God stop what you're doing and draw near I mean look how simple that was. Stop what you're doing and draw near. All right so Abraham stops what he's doing and he draws near to God.

Now let's watch the rest of the conversation. Verse 24 suppose that this this is Abraham talking suppose that there were 50 righteous within the city would you also destroy the place and not spare it for 50 righteous that were in it far be it from you. I like this language Abraham's you far be it from you God to do such a thing as this to slay the righteous with the wicked so that the righteous should be as the wicked far be it from you should not the judge of all the earth do right so the Lord said if I find in Sodom 50 righteous within the city then I will spare all the place for their sakes. Then Abraham answered and said indeed now I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord.

I mean I just there are funny things in the Bible we just don't think they're that funny you know many times but it's funny. He says suppose there were five less than 50 would you destroy all the city for lack of five so he said if I find 45 I will not destroy it and he spoke to him yet again and said suppose there should be 40 found there. And he said I will not do it for the sake of 40, then he said let not the Lord be angry and I speak suppose 30 should be found there. So he said I'll not do it if I find 30 there and he said indeed now I've taken upon myself to speak to the Lord suppose 20 should be found there. So he said I will not destroy it for the sake of 20. Then he said let not the Lord be angry I'll speak but once more suppose 10 should be found there and he said I will not destroy it for the sake of 10. So the Lord went his way as soon as he had finished speaking with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place. Okay, here's what I think.

When God walked away, I think he walked over to Jesus and the Holy Spirit and maybe, you know, Michael and Gabriel there or something, and I think he said something like this. I like that guy. Did y'all hear that? Did you hear him say, far be it from you, Lord. Y'all hear that? No, I mean, that guy, I like it.

I think we're gonna be great friends. God wants to be your friend. Think about this. The Bible starts and ends with God speaking to people. And everywhere in the middle, every book of the Bible, he's speaking to people.

Every book of the Bible. He starts speaking to Adam and Eve, he ends up speaking to John on the island of Patmos in the book of Revelation. And you think all of a sudden he just stopped speaking? 2000 years and he hasn't spoken a word now since the scripturation of the Bible? You think all of a sudden now God doesn't speak anymore?

I mean, he's got to be about to burst up there, right? It's crazy that God, to even think that. So that's point number one, God doesn't speak to robots. Here's number two, God speaks to people. We have records, as I said, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Noah, Adam and Eve, Deborah, Ruth, all through scripture, all through the Old Testament, all through the New Testament, speaking to disciples, but also speaking after the resurrection. Speaking to Paul, speaking to Barnabas, speaking to John after the resurrection. He's still speaking to people. It's all through the Bible. Now, think about this.

Do you really think that the indwelling Holy Spirit would speak less to people than before the Holy Spirit came to dwell in us? It's crazy. Like, you know, Jesus said, I'm not going to leave you as orphans. I'm going to send someone to you.

But now he can't talk to you. That's crazy. Like the Holy Spirit, the word parakleitos, which the word comes from in the Greek, para means alongside, and kleitos means to walk, or to come, alongside. So the Holy Spirit's going to walk alongside of you.

But here's what people think. He's walking along, the Holy Spirit's walking like this. Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm.

Crazy. Think about that. Or maybe it's like some game he's playing with, you know, like two words, first word, two syllables, you know. Okay, let me show you a scripture straight out that the Holy Spirit speaks. John 16, verses 12 and 13. Jesus said, I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when he, the spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak.

That's Jesus. He will speak, and he will tell you things to come. What a horrible trick that God played on us to stop speaking all of a sudden.

He didn't do that. He still speaks. You know, the reason I think that we have a difficulty wondering if God still speaks today, I think we actually think that he spoke differently to people in the Bible than he does today.

Now I want to submit to you that it might not have always been different. We just, in one of our other sessions, we read where Gideon said, show me a sign that it is you who talk with me. Why would he say that? We have Hebrews 11, which is the Hall of Faith, not fame, but Hall of Faith in the Bible, and here's what it says about all of them. By faith, by faith. Okay, well, if God spoke in this loud, booming voice, you know, like on a cartoon where you see hair going back, you know, like this, and God is speaking like this, I think Hebrews 11 would say, by fear.

They were scared to death. Elijah said it was a still, small voice. Here's a good one for you. Moses was talking to a bush. Is this you? What's your name?

I mean, that's the way to, if you ever think about it, what's your name? Bush. God speaks to people. It's all through scripture.

I have a friend of mine that was called into question by his denomination for saying that God still speaks today. And for about three hours, they just grilled him. And finally he said, can I ask you gentlemen a question? Just one question. You've asked me questions for three hours.

Can I ask you a question? And there were four pastors on the credentials committee for this denomination. And they said, sure, ask us a question. So he looked at the head of the committee and said, who called you to preach? Now here's what they had just said to him before he asked the question. They said, if you tell us that God spoke to you something, and you can't give us a book, chapter, and verse, then that's not God.

And you're adding to the Bible, and you know what happens to people who add to the Bible. So that's when he said, can I ask you a minute question? So he said, who called you to preach?

All four of them went like this. Put their heads down. Because even theological persuasions that will teach that God doesn't speak today believe in a call to preach. So he said, Dr. so-and-so, I asked you a question. Who called you to preach? So he didn't want to be called, so he come.

Well, God did. He said, good, would you mind giving me the book, chapter, and verse? He said, in the same way that God called you to preach, God still speaks today. He never says anything contrary to this word, but he does speak to our hearts. God speaks to people. And here's number three, God speaks to friends. He doesn't speak to robots. He doesn't communicate mechanically to us. He does speak to people, it's all through scripture. And he speaks to friends.

Numbers 33, 11. So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend. James 2, 23, and the scripture was fulfilled, which says, Abraham believed God, and it was accounted him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God. So we need to understand that God wants to be friends with you.

And that's, isn't that great news? He wants to be your friend. He wants to talk to you, and you can talk to God. You can talk to God about how you feel. You can talk to God about what you're mad about. You understand that you won't intimidate God? You will not upset God if you say, God, I'm really mad at you right now.

He's not gonna go, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh. He's okay, he's in control. You can talk to God. God wants to talk to you as a friend. He calls us friends even when we don't act like friends. This is a great truth about God.

We're still his friends. Let me read you a couple of scriptures that kind of shocked me when we talk about friends. This is a scripture, the first one's from the Old Testament, and it's what we would call a messianic scripture.

In other words, it's in the Old Testament, but it is speaking about the Messiah, okay? It's Zechariah 13, six. It says, if someone asks him, what are these wounds on your body? He will answer, the wounds that I was given at the house of my friends.

Here's another one. Matthew 26, 48 through 50. Now his betrayer, that's Judas, had given them a sign saying, whomever I kiss, he is the one sees him. Immediately, he went up to Jesus and said, greetings, Rabbi, and kissed him. But Jesus said to him, friend, why have you come? And then they laid hands on Jesus and took him away.

Let that one sink into you. The guy who was betraying him, Jesus said, friend, what are you doing? Maybe you never thought about this, but Jesus washed Judas' feet.

He was there, he didn't leave till after the foot washing. What I'm trying to tell you is that he doesn't treat you any differently, even when you treat him badly. And then a very famous one, we were at John 15, 15 earlier, no longer do I call you servants, I call you friends, because I've told you what I'm doing. Two verses before that, John 15, 13, greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. I hope you're catching why hear from God, because God wants to talk to you.

He wants to be your friend. My greatest memories, I've been a Christian now for 35 years, my greatest memories as a believer are not what God's done for me, but what God said to me. Now I'm very grateful for what he's done for me. I'm very, very grateful of obviously they redeemed me out of a life of sin, that he gave me a beautiful family, that he uses me to help other people. I'm grateful for what God's done for me and through me.

I'm grateful for that. But when I think back about milestones in my life, my memories go to what God has said to me when I was going through a tough time, and God gave me a word to get through that time. I've done some quotes from Dallas Willard.

One of Dallas Willard's quotes is, let me read it exactly. I treasure his presence, and that's like him being present in the situation, feeling God's presence. I treasure his presence more than his presence, and that's spelled like gifts, Christmas gifts, presence, like you give, so let me say it again. I treasure his presence more than his presence.

That's pretty strong, isn't it? I remember one time I was having my quiet time, and I just said, Lord, I gotta talk to you about stuff, and I just started like this, just telling him, I was giving him my to-do list, you know? I'm gonna go to work while I'm gone, you do these things. Okay, so I just started talking, and all of a sudden, I just felt like the Lord said, can we just talk?

Just like that. Can we just talk for a minute? Just like if you went and saw a friend you haven't seen in years, and you immediately started saying, now listen, next week, I need you to do this and this and this and this, and the person say, what about, hey, how you doing?

How's your family? What's going on? Can we just talk for a minute? I really feel like that's what God's saying to all of his children. Can we just talk?

I wanna ask you to just close your eyes for a moment, and I wanna cement this truth in our hearts. God does wanna give us direction. He does wanna give us guidance. But he wants to have a relationship with you.

He wants to be your friend. So why don't you just take a moment and just say, God, I wanna get to know you as a friend, and I wanna hear your voice as a friend, in Jesus' name, amen. It's really amazing that God wants to be our friend. He even sees us as a friend when we don't act like one, and his love for us is so great.

It is. Well, we encourage you to take a moment to think about what Pastor Robert shared today and really listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to you. I know that he wants to speak to you today and every day. To get a copy of this message or any of the messages in this frequency series, visit pastorrobert.com or call 833-933-WORD. That's pastorrobert.com or 833-933-WORD. You can also follow Pastor Robert on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Next time, Pastor Robert will be sharing about hearing God through the Bible. Thanks for listening, and have a great day. We'll see you next time.